


Melioration and Revelry

by era_hatter



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cute, Depressedreader, Does anyone actually read the tags?, Doomfanger - Freeform, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Grillby's Restaurant (Undertale), Harems, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of Suicide Attempt, Multi, Papyrus is baby, Red is Depressed, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Underfell Sans (Undertale), Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale), Undertale Monsters on the Surface, all of them want you, and food, babyneedshelp, blue soul - Freeform, blueberry has too much energy, edge is cooking master, help this girl, maybe smut later, nah im continuing with the tags bc i have to, okay i'll stop with the tags now, okay now im done for real, please sleep my child, rus is literally everyones mom, sans really just needs to sleep, skelephobia, wink - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23659615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/era_hatter/pseuds/era_hatter
Summary: “...do not be rash...the only reason I am telling you this is because I need you to pay your tab.”Sweat formed on Sans’ brow. “What are you getting at, Grillby?”Grillby silently turned to the register on the far right of the bar and punched some buttons. After a moment, a long piece of paper spit out of a metal slot. It rolled onto the wooden floor. Grillby snatched it up, miraculously not burning the paper, and handed it to Sans. The skeleton’s eyelights browsed the paper, then quickly extinguished. His hands trembled. “This...can’t be right, Grillbz,” he mumbled, voice shaky. The bartender took the paper and distingrated it.“...I will forgive your tab just like this paper...if you take in (Y/n).”***(Y/n) gets taken into the care of six skeletons! The only thing is, she has skelephobia...Will her mysterious past and daunting fear get in her way of love?(I suck at summaries, guys. Just read the dang thing if you've read this far down lol)
Relationships: Papyrus (Undertale) & Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale) & Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/You
Comments: 52
Kudos: 230





	1. Tabs and Tears

With a large gulp, a small skeleton finished off his glass of ketchup and set it, now empty, on top of the polished mahogany bar. His white eyelights slightly dimmed. A flaming fire monster stood behind the counter polishing a glass, closely observing the skeleton. “...you okay, sans?” he asked softly. Sans snapped out of his daze, eyelights brightening, and glanced at the bartender. With a smile he replied, “Yeah everything’s good, Grillby. It’s just...who is that?” He gestured a bony hand to a young woman in the front corner of the room at a table, serving some dog monsters their food. 

“...(y/n)? She’s my new waitress....I hired her yesterday afternoon.”

Sans tapped his empty glass absentmindedly. “It’s odd that you hired a human. Isn’t this a monster-only establishment?” Grillby nodded. “...yes, but she is a special circumstance.” He flickered his eye slits to where (Y/n) stood idly chatting with another customer who sat in a salmon colored booth. To Sans, she seemed harmless, but he knew that on the surface not all humans like the idea of monsters around. “...she is very caring and does her job well,” Grillby continued, “...when I found her...let’s say she wasn’t in the best place.” Sans looked up at him in interest.

“What happened to her?”

Grillby sighed and set the polished glass on the bar. “...that is a very personal story...I will keep it simple...but she must tell you all herself…” He leaned forward, slightly heating the skeleton’s skull. “...she was molested and tried to kill herself behind my restaurant…” he spoke low. 

Anger flared up in Sans’ soul. He rose in his seat, eye sockets completely dark. The fire monster leaned back and motioned the skeleton to keep his mouth shut. Sans’ eyelights returned and he sat back down slowly. “...do not be rash...the only reason I am telling you this is because I need you to pay your tab.” 

Sweat formed on Sans’ brow. “What are you getting at, Grillby?”

Grillby silently turned to the register on the far right of the bar and punched some buttons. After a moment, a long piece of paper spit out of a metal slot. It rolled onto the wooden floor. Grillby snatched it up, miraculously not burning the paper, and handed it to Sans. The skeleton’s eyelights browsed the paper, then quickly extinguished. His hands trembled. “This...can’t be right, Grillbz,” he mumbled, voice shaky. The bartender took the paper and distingrated it. 

“...I will forgive your tab just like this paper...if you take in (Y/n).” 

Sans’ white lights returned and his expression hardened. “Buddy, I already have five other skeletons at home. Some of those skeletons don’t appreciate humans like you do. As much as I would love to pay off my tab, I can’t do it this way.”

A flaming hand rubbed the flame monster’s face. His eyes sparked, and he pushed up his glasses. “...I thought you might say that...I spoke with the other Grillby and Muffet...they have agreed to pay off Red and Rus’ tabs as well…” he said silkily. Grillby smirked at Sans’ startled expression. The skeleton sighed and gestured for another glass of ketchup. “Fine. We have a spare room upstairs for anyone wanting to sleep over. She can use that.” 

Grillby filled up a small glass with ketchup and slid it over to Sans. He downed it quickly and frowned. “When do you want me to take her in?” he asked. 

“...right after her shift ends.”

“Which is?”

Grillby glanced at the round clock on the dark brown wall.

“...in five minutes.”

Sans facepalmed. “Jeez, Grillbz! Give a skeleton a longer warning, huh?” The bartender glared down at the skeleton. Sans smiled sheepishly. “Just joking, buddy.” Grillby sighed and tapped on the counter. “...there is something you must know about (Y/n) before you take her in...she’s afraid of…” Grillby trailed off as his human waitress walked up to the bar.

“Mr. Grillby, is there anything else I can do…” she started to say but fell silent when her gaze fell onto the blue jacket-clad skeleton. Her face paled and her stance became rigged.

“...(y/n), this is Sans, my most loyal customer.”

Sans raised a bone brow. ‘The kid’s afraid of skeletons? Why does Grillby want me to take her in with us?’ He smiled up at (Y/n), shoved a hand in his jacket pocket, then extended it out to her. She visibly gulped and slowly took his hand. 

Pffffffffffffffffffflllluuurrrt.

(Y/n) blinked for a second and then chuckled slightly.

‘Good,’ he thought, ‘she’ll open up with humor.’

“Heheh...the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It’s ALWAYS funny,” he wheezed, placing the cushion back in his pocket. (Y/n) smiled nervously. “It is very funny...um I’m sorry if this is blunt, but Mr. Grillby told me that you offered me a place to stay,” she squeaked.

Sans shot the fire man a dirty look. Grillby whistled a tune and somehow coughed “...tab” in between notes. He turned back to the girl and grinned. “Yeah, me and my roommates have an extra room if you need it. A few of them like to cook so you’ll never go hungry if you decide to become their taste tester.” Her (e/c) eyes lit up at the mention of food. “I won’t pass that opportunity up!” 

(Y/n) turned to Grillby. “Can I get my stuff and leave a few minutes early? If it's okay with Sans, that is.” Grillby nodded and pointed towards the back door. “...you can get your things and Sans will show you to his home.” She started to take off her apron and gave her thanks to her boss before going into the back room. 

Once she was gone, Sans narrowed his sockets. “Grillby...was it a human or monster that molested her?” Grillby scratched his neck. “...that is not for me to tell.” The skeleton grit his jaw. “Then can you tell me why she’s afraid of skeletons?” The taller monster took a rag and began to wipe down the bar. “...she has always had the fear...she doesn’t know where it came from.”

Before Sans could ask any more about her, the said human walked out of the back room. She wore a (f/c) hoodie, dark jeans, and sandals. A backpack clung onto her shoulders with ragged straps. (Y/n) spoke to Grillby, “Thank you again for helping me.” He nodded and turned to Sans. “...you should get going soon...the dark is no place to be for a lady or a monster.” 

Sans hopped off his stool and wiped his sweaty palms on his shorts. "C'mon, kid. Let's go home." As he walked out the door to Grillby's, he didn't notice the tears in the eyes of the girl that followed him.

***

(Y/n) pulled her hood over her head to shield herself from rain that began to fall steadily in the orange sunlight. The skeleton--Sans didn’t bother with his hood. They walked in silence, only the sounds of the town and the rain disrupting its spell. A tear snuck out of her eye and trailed down her cheek. She wiped it with her (f/c) sleeve. Even though it was raining, it was beautiful outside. She could have not seen this afternoon if Grillby did not find her. (Y/n) owed him her life and she was very grateful for his help. 

She tugged on the straps of her backpack and focused on the monster in front of her. Her teeth tugged on her bottom lip. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of...monster skeletons don’t even look like human skeletons...they’re just more cartoony.’ (Y/n) sighed. She had skelephobia since she could remember. She was always made fun of because of it, but she couldn’t seem to shake it off. She had gotten better over the years. ‘Maybe living with Sans will help me with this irrational fear…’

The squish of Sans’ pink slippers drew her out of her thoughts. The skeleton looked down at the puddle he stepped in and sighed. “I’d usually say a pun on how ironic this is, but I don’t have the guts to do it.”

(Y/n) blinked. ‘Was that a pun?’

Sans’ smile tugged a bit wider. “Sorry,” he began apologetically, “that wasn’t very humerus.” 

The girl groaned. “That was bad.” The skeleton chuckled and resumed walking. “Since you’ll be living with me and my roommates, I should probably get to know ya some.” (Y/n) tilted her head. “Okay?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

She blinked at the random question. “(F/c)?” He nodded. “What’s your opinion on Italian food?” he asked, eyelights trained on the sidewalk before him. (Y/n) stared at the back of his skull. “I like Italian, why?” He threw his head back and gave her an appreciative look. “A few of my roommates cook a lot of Italian and one has an obsession with tacos. That’s mostly every meal of the day, unless you can persuade them to change it up.” She nodded.

Another moment of silence came between them before they exchanged words. (Y/n) fiddled with the strings on her hoodie. “How many roommates do you have?” she asked softly.  
“Five,” Sans replied, “all of them skeletons.” (Y/n) involuntarily shivered. “So...what are they all like?” 

“They’re all bone heads, of course,” the skeleton remarked, leading her down another rainy street. She recognized it as the monster section of the town. All of the houses were unique with shape and color. Some structures even seemed to defy gravity. The rain slid over the homes and fell to the grassy ground. Ignoring his comment, she returned her gaze to Sans.

“Are they all like you?”

He shook his head. “Not all of them. Me, Red, and Rus are the pun-making, condiment drinkers. Red and his bro, Edge, have a harsh attitude, but don’t take it personal. Papyrus, my bro, and Blueberry are the kind ones. They are obsessed with humans and will enjoy your company.” (Y/n) blinked in confusion. “I know it’s a lot to take in,” Sans said, suddenly stopping in his tracks. “You all will get along just great. Welp, here we are.” 

Before them stood a large log cabin at least two stories tall. It was decorated with colorful Christmas lights that twinkled in the rain. A doghouse stood next to the massive cabin. “You have a dog?” she asked in interest. Sans sighed, making his way up his porch to the large red front door. “Technically two dogs and a cat, but we don’t own them. They just hang around here. Blueberry and Pap built the doghouse for them.” 

He opened the door and slipped his slippers off onto the porch. “Leave your shoes here, if we trail water through the house we’re boned to get sternum looks.” (Y/n) lightly snickered as she took off her sandals. When she was done, Sans waved her inside. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you to the others.”

The atmosphere inside the house was nothing but cozy. Soft blue carpet hugged the bottom of her feet. She dug her toes into it, relishing the fluffy texture. The walls were a dusty purple and contrasted with the couple of comfortable-looking couches in the living room. From the entrance, she could see the orange kitchen tiles that clashed with the carpet. A table next to the door held three rocks on plates with colorful sprinkles covering their hard surfaces. (Y/n) raised an eyebrow.

“Those are Pap, Blueberry, and Edge’s pet rocks,” Sans explained. 

(Y/n) opened her mouth to comment on how sprinkles aren’t actually going to feed rocks but was interrupted by a thumping from the wooden stairs in the far corner. “SANS!! I thought I heard you come in! Thank you for reminding me to feed Pet Rock…!” The loud voice dwindled at the sight of the human girl. 

Before (Y/n) stood a tall skeleton with a...unique outfit with shoulder pads and a bright red scarf. The skeleton scratched his skull and quickly yanked Sans into the kitchen. Although they were out of sight, (Y/n) could still hear their loud whispering. 

“Is...is that a human, Sans?!” 

“Yeah, bro.”

So this one was Sans’ brother, Papyrus.

“Wowie!” Papyrus exclaimed. “Why is she here?”

The girl could hear Sans sigh. His voice lowered so only his brother could hear him. (Y/n) strained her ears, but to no avail. After a short pause, she heard a squeal from the kitchen.

“Brother! I must grab Blueberry and notify him at once!”

“You’re still whispering, Pap.”

“Oh.”

(Y/n) laughed into her sleeve. She liked this Papyrus. 

The said skeleton returned from the kitchen with his short brother behind him. “HUMAN!” he exclaimed with a smile, “I am the GREAT PAPYRUS! I am aware of your weird fear of skeletons, but DO NOT BE AFRAID! I will make sure your stay here will be wonderful and safe!!” Sans shot his brother a pointed look. (Y/n) dismissed his wording and gave him a small smile. “Hi, I’m (Y/n). It’s nice to meet you, Papyrus. Thank you for making me feel welcome.” 

A light pink blush rose to the tall skeleton’s cheek bones. “Ah, yes...that is a wonderful name…!” He looked back and forth to (Y/n) and Sans. He coughed into his red glove. “Well!! I MUST FETCH BLUEBERRY!!” Papyrus abruptly sped up the stairs.

(Y/n)’s eyes flickered to Sans’ eyelights. 

“Papyrus is cool.”

He smiled. “Of course he’s cool. He’s my bro.”

A loud ‘pop’ sounded on the green couch next (Y/n), startling her. She tumbled onto the couch and heard a gruff “ow” underneath her. Sans laughed hysterically as she scrambled to get off the couch. “I’m so sorr…” she froze. On the couch laid a skeleton similar to Sans. His skull was slightly fractured, and his eyelights were dark red. He stretched like a cat, his black, fluffy rimmed jacket rising to expose a bit of his spine. He sat back and smiled, razor sharp teeth glinting. “I didn’t think you’d be falling for me this fast, toots,” the skeleton chuckled.

(Y/n)’s jaw dropped as she scrambled for words. Sans wiped imaginary tears from his sockets. “(Y/n), this is Red.” The skeleton on the green couch held out his hand for her to shake it. She gave a sideways look to Sans. “Is there a whoopee cushion in your friend’s hand?” Sans shook his skull. “Nah, that’s my gag.” (Y/n) sighed in relief and took Red’s hand.

BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ 

(Y/n) yelped and took her hand away as a current of electricity coursed through her system. The two small skeletons howled with laughter. “The old hand buzzer joke!” Red managed to get out in between laughs, “it NEVER gets old!” 

The girl frowned and held her hand to her chest. Rule number one: don’t trust skeleton hand shakes. 

The skeletons' laughter died down and they flitted their eyelights to (Y/n). “Sorry about that,” Red apologized. “I don’t get to pull that joke much anymore and seeing you was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed.”

Sans sat on the couch next to Red and motioned (Y/n) to sit next to him. “There’s enough room for all of us.” The human took off her backpack and warily sat next to him. Her eyes sparkled as she sank deep into the cushions. It felt like a cloud. 

Red chuckled. “Ya like the couch, sweetheart? So do we bonely skeletons.” Sans glared at him. “Mind the flirting there, Fell? She just got here.” The other rolled his eyelights. “Yeah, why do you think I teleported here? Your brother has notified the whole household of (Y/n)’s existence.” Sans sighed. Red leaned in and whispered in a low voice, “Also, my Grillby and Rus’ Muffet told us about the girl. After we saw our tabs, we agreed that taking her in is the best option.” Sans narrowed his sockets. “Do you have any idea who did that to her?” he asked lightly. Red shook his head. They both leaned back and peeked at the human. She snuggled up in the cushions, oblivious to their conversation. 

“Damn,” Red muttered. “Looks like she’s never sat on a couch before.”

A being sat up on the red couch next to the green one they sat on. Wiping their sockets of sleep, they suggested, “Maybe she hasn’t.” 

The voice brought (Y/n) out of her bliss. She looked toward her left to see a tall skeleton like Papyrus leaning on the arm of the couch next to her. He wore an oversized orange hoodie and brown cargo shorts. He lit a cigarette and stuck it in between his teeth. His white eyelights rested on her face. “Name’s Rus. Nice to meet ya, pal.” He extended a bony hand, but she shook her head. 

“No offense, Rus, but I have recently learned not to shake a skeleton’s hand.” 

The tall skeleton looked disappointed. He faced his palm up to the suspicious girl. A small bit of bit of putty lay in his hand. “Ya got me,” he admitted, giving his hand a squeeze. A fart noise echoed in the room. Rus sighed, “The old fart putty joke...it usually doesn’t get old.” (Y/n) felt bad. 

He took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke tendrils through his nose hole and teeth. 

‘How does it not go out of his sockets?’ (Y/n) thought to herself.

Rus turned toward the other two skeletons. 

“Brace yourself, I feel a disturbance in the force…”

Sans and Red paled somehow and brought their knees to their chest.

(Y/n) looked back to Rus. “What’s wrong?”

The room began to shake. The girl gripped the arm of the green couch. Her eyes widened as Rus replied, “My bro is coming.” 

A blue ball shot down the stairs towards (Y/n). She let out a small scream as the ball collided with her onto the couch. Stars rose to her eyes. She quickly blinked them away until she could see again. She focused her vision on a small skeleton in her lap. He was a tad bit smaller than Sans and Red, but still looked relatively similar to them. A grey shirt fit his torso with shoulder pads that looked like Papyrus’ weird clothing. Soft black pants were tucked into light blue boots. A cyan bandanna was tied around his neck. A great big smile adorned his face as he exclaimed, “HUMAN!! I am the MAGNIFICENT SANS! Or as you shall call me, BLUEBERRY!”

“Aaaaawwwww!,” (Y/n) cooed. Blueberry was adorable! She knew in her mind right away that she’d be best friends with this one. 

Rus chuckled and Blueberry frowned. “Why are you showing signs of endearment?” The other skeletons in the room laughed. “She thinks you’re cute, bro,” Rus explained. Blueberry’s face dusted light blue and (Y/n) blushed lightly.

“I-I’m not cute!!”

“T-that’s not what I meant!”

(Y/n) and Blueberry jumbled with their words at the same time. They blinked at each other before laughing nervously. “I’m (Y/n), nice to meet you Blueberry.” The small skeleton’s blue eyelights searched her face for something and then turned to his brother.

“Brother! Have you seen (Y/n’s) soul?!” 

Rus nodded and then told him, “We’ll talk about it later, bro.”

Blueberry nodded and hopped off (Y/n)’s lap. 

‘My soul? I heard that monsters have souls instead of hearts and such, but I didn’t know they could see human souls...’

“(Y/N)!!” Blueberry shouted, posing dramatically in front of her. “I WILL SHOW YOU TO YOUR ROOM!” He began to climb up the stairs to the upper floor but stopped so she could follow him. The girl looked to the other skeletons. They all shrugged in sync. Weird.

She picked up her backpack and followed Blueberry up the stairs to the second floor.

The second floor was a narrow hall carpeted like the living room. Several doors lined the walls, all decorated differently. Three paintings of cartoon bones hung on the purple walls as well. Blueberry led her to the back of the hallway. “This,” he pointed to a door on the right, “is the bathroom! There is another one in the basement, but that is for the Fell brothers!” (Y/n) guessed the Fell brothers were Red and Edge. The names seemed to fit that description. 

Blueberry then stood in front of the door across from the bathroom. It had a big poster saying “(Y/N)’S ROOM” taped onto the front. “Here we are, human!! You’re room!” Blueberry opened the door and stepped inside, (Y/n) trailing behind him.

The girl’s eyes bulged and she dropped her backpack. Her room was very homey and comfortable. The walls were painted (f/c) and the carpet was the same blue as the rest of the house. A full-sized bed rested on the right side of the room, where Papyrus stood fixing the white and (f/c) sheets. The tall skeleton frowned. “BLUEBERRY! I was not finished yet!” The small skeleton bounced with excitement. “I’m sorry, Pap! I couldn’t help but show the human their room!” Blueberry gushed. He turned to (Y/n). “IT'S COOL, RIGHT, (Y/N)!?” 

She nodded. It was very cool. In the short time she had arrived, the two skeletons had decorated the room with various plants and strings of white lights. A wooden bookshelf stood in the back of the room, filled with a few novels about puzzles and cooking recipes. Upon closer inspection, a couple of rectangular figurines rested on the shelf, acting as bookends.

“Are those Mettaton and Napstabot?” she asked.

The two skeletons’ eyelights brightened and turned into stars.

“YOU KNOW THEM?!” they yelled in unison. 

She chuckled. “Of course. They’re very popular to humans as well. They’re music is so good!” As she turned back around, (Y/n) noticed a couple of posters of the star robots.

“When did those get there?” she muttered to herself. “They weren’t there when I walked in…”

Blueberry tugged on her arm. His blue glove was soft to the touch. “This way!” He and Papyrus led her to another door in the back of the room. “This is your closet!! No skeletons are usually in here, unless we walk in,” Papyrus commented. “I’ll have to have a word with those pranksters about teleporting into the closet, though.” The idea of opening her closet one morning to find one of the three skeletons downstairs in there caused her to shudder. 

Papyrus opened the closet door. It was a decent size, but one detail about it caught her off guard. “There are shelves in the closet?” (Y/n) wondered out loud. “Why of course!” She lowered her gaze to Blueberry. “When I was doing research on human dating customs, I found a wonderful Jane Austen novel that--” he cut himself off in embarrassment. “I mean...I read somewhere about it being more efficient.” 

(Y/n) smiled. “Thank you for being so considerate, Blueberry.”

Another light blue blush rose to the small skeleton’s face. 

Papyrus interjected, “Ah, (Y/n), do you like spaghetti?”

“AND DO YOU LIKE TACOS?!” Blueberry piped in.

The girl nodded. “Yes, I love both of those foods and can make them as well.”

The skeletons froze, sockets going dark. A tiny stream of blood trickled out of their nostrils. (Y/n) became worried. “Um...guys, are you okay?” Their eyelights returned and blazed bright in the shape of hearts. 

Together, they cried, “OH NO!! YOU’VE MET ALL MY STANDARDS!!!” 

Ignoring (Y/n)’s puzzled and terrified face, they linked their arms with hers and shouted, “TO THE KITCHEN!!!!” The human girl was flung around like a ragdoll as the skeletons ran downstairs to the kitchen. They sped by the three skeletons on the couches who watched some static on the television in front of them. Sans, Red, and Rus all sighed. “Kids…” they murmured. 

(Y/n) was tossed into the kitchen by Papyrus and Blueberry. She landed on the floor in a heap and closed her (e/c) eyes. After basically flying, the cold orange tiles felt really good. After a few seconds, she felt her body be nudged. She opened her eyes to be met with dark red, high heeled boots.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” a raspy voice boomed above her. (Y/n) cowered. The voice scared her. This skeleton wasn’t like the others. He was the tallest and most frightening-looking. His right eye socket was cracked, the thin lines stretching over his cheek bone and up his forehead. He wore a jagged, menacing scowl and a tattered blood red scarf. Gold patches decorated his black material-clad chest, symbols of the Dark Royal Guard. 

All her nightmares reflected this monster. His appearance, his voice, his bright eyelights, they fueled her fear of skeletons. She couldn’t help but stare in horror at the being above her.

This one was the one she was scared of.


	2. Of Theories and Apologies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to have a disclaimer!!
> 
> All credit for Undertale goes to Toby Fox
> 
> Aus and their characters are credited by their creators
> 
> Doomfanger is by crashboombanger.tumblr.com (that account doesn't exist any more, sadly but his new account is https://bowieslastcigarette.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thank you all for what you do!!

(Y/n) was yanked by the arm up to her feet. Her eyes were met with blood red eyelights. The skeleton’s cracked eye socket reminded her of ‘ _ it’.  _ The girl’s knees began to shake, causing her body to slightly go limp in the tall, lanky skeleton’s grip. He quirked a bone brow up before releasing her, then dusted her off.

“THE FLOOR IS NOT FOR NAPPING. I HAVEN’T EVEN SCRUBBED IT YET.”

His gaze turned to the two skeletons behind her.

“YOU CAN’T WHIP HUMANS AROUND LIKE TOYS! LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO THIS ONE!” He pointed to (Y/n), who tried to balance herself on the white counter to her left. Her body trembled as her lungs tried to keep up with her rapid breathing. She looked towards Papyrus and Blueberry who had sad looks on their faces.

“S...sorry, (Y/n),” they muttered together.

Satisfied with their apology, the raspy skeleton faced (Y/n). 

“HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! BUT THOSE LAZYBONES CALL ME ‘EDGE’. YOU MAY USE THIS TITLE WHEN ADDRESSING ME.”

She nodded quickly, closing her eyes tight. This was Red’s brother, Edge. His name fit everything about him. His sharp angles and teeth could probably cut her skin if she touched them. (Y/n) knew in her mind that she shouldn’t be scared of him...Grillby wouldn’t let her stay in a place that wasn’t safe; however, the daunting skeleton frightened her nonetheless. 

“NOW...If you could please remove yourself from the counter so I can finish preparing my lasagna, that would make me very grateful,” Edge spoke in a lower tone. 

(Y/n) opened her (e/c) eyes. The scowl had left his face and a smirk replaced it, his eye sockets narrowing into what seemed like a look of...pity? The human slowly backed away from the counter and sat at the wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. Her breathing slowed to a normal pace. Her hands joined together in her hoodie’s front pocket, sweaty fingers interlocked for dear life. 

On the other side of the room, the three skeletons began to argue.

“C’MON, EDGE! LET US MAKE TACOS!!” Blueberry pleaded, eyelights growing in an attempt to look cute.

“NO!!! SPAGHETTI!!” Papyrus huffed, arms crossing over his chest.

“YOU IMBECILES! IT IS  _ MY _ NIGHT TO COOK AND I AM ALREADY HALFWAY DONE WITH MY LASAGNA,” Edge gestured to a white casserole dish on the flour-covered counter. “YOU TWO HAVE YOUR OWN NIGHTS TO MAKE TACOS AND SPAGHETTI. WAIT FOR YOUR TURN.”

“BUT I WAS GOING TO MAKE FOOD WITH (Y/N)!!” The other two skeletons yelled.

(Y/n) sighed. All of the yelling around her was beginning to give her a headache. Keeping her gaze on the orange tiles, she quietly snuck around the arguing skeletons and into the living room. Sans, Red, and Rus sat on the green couch, whispering to each other.  _ ‘Why is it either whispering or yelling in this household?’  _ (Y/n) thought.  _ ‘At least I know who the quiet ones are.”  _

The TV, which was previously playing static, had been turned off. The girl took this opportunity to try and listen in on the whispering trio. They hadn’t noticed her yet, so she might be able to pull it off. 

***

Red growled at his counterparts. If he wasn’t squished in between Rus and Sans on the green couch, he would have thrown fists at them for what they said.

“Why the HELL would you even suggest that?!” he hissed. “Boss wouldn’t  _ dare _ lay a hand on an innocent human girl. Especially someone as cute as that doll.”

The last comment earned him a sharp glare on his right from Sans. He shrugged. “Hey, if I think she’s cute, so do you guys, and you know it.” Sans and Rus sighed. He was right. 

“Red, we only suggested a possibility. With Edge’s past dealings with humans and her skelephobia--” Rus began before getting interrupted by Red.

“By your reasoning, that also leads me as a suspect, dickwad. Not to mention the rest of us. Did you see the way she shakes when she’s looking at us? Hell, even Blueberry made her a little wary!”

Sans scratched his head. “You’re right. (Y/n)’s skelephobia is not a lead into finding her molester. Even Grillby said that she’s always had the fear,  _ BEFORE  _ monsters came to the surface.” 

The three monsters sat in silence, pondering possibilities of who attacked their new roommate. Rus took a final drag on his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray in between the couches. The ashes sparked and then diminished into light grey flakes on the encrusted glass. He tapped a finger to his skull. “We don’t even know if it was a human or a monster. They could be anywhere. Even in prison by now. Why are we worrying about this?” he questioned. 

Red and Sans thought for a moment. Their Grillbys, and Rus’ Muffet, only asked for them to take in (Y/n), not avenge her. Red’s dark eyelights met with Sans’ white ones. They nodded in agreement. “None of the timelines has had this happen before,” Red explained. “At least in my universe.” The other two mumbled, “Same here.” 

“This is new. Usually the kid resets by now,” Sans shot them a worried glance. 

Rus pulled a bottle of honey out from his jacket pocket. After sipping from the ribbed bottle, he suggested, “Maybe this isn’t Frisk or Chara’s doing.” He licked his teeth with an orange tongue made of magic. “What if there’s another purpose? Someone else pulling the strings?”

Sans shook his head. “Always the philosopher, huh, Rus?” The other shrugged. The skeleton in the blue jacket dug his hands into his pockets. “But I agree. We should just relax. If any trails come up of that bastard that hurt (Y/n), we sniff ‘em out and dispose of ‘em. As for now, we work with this new  _ bone  _ of contention.”

Red blinked his sockets. “Pal, that ain’t even the place to use that phrase.”

Sans closed his sockets and shrugged. “Who cares?”

Rus cleared his throat and leaned towards the other two.

“Ya guys know that the human has been standing in front of us, right?”

Sans opened his sockets wide and saw (Y/n) in front of the skeletons. Her stance was slightly stiff and her hands clenched tightly in the pocket of her hoodie. Noticing the skeletons’ gaze on her, she blushed lightly in embarrassment. 

“Whatchu up to, sweetheart?” Red asked with a smile, his gold tooth gleaming. (Y/n) squirmed under the stares of the skeletons. “E-Edge, Papyrus, and Blueberry are arguing about dinner…” He rolled his eyelights. “Those two know better than to pick a fight with Boss. I’ll go talk to them.” Red started to get up from the green couch but paused when (Y/n) stuttered, “W-wait.” She inched closer to the couch and mumbled, “Can I ask you guys a question?”

The three skeletons nodded. Sans motioned to the red couch. “You can sit and talk with us, ya know. We aren’t going to hurt you, kid.” A nervous smile stretched across her face as she walked to sit on the crimson couch. Once she was situated, she asked, “I’ve noticed that some monsters in the city look like other monsters I see in Grillby’s a-and here some of you guys l-look like each other b-but have different personalities...are there multiple versions of the Underground where you guys came from?”

Sans, Red, and Rus’ eye sockets went dark.

_ ‘Damn,’ _ they all thought,  _ ‘she’s smart.’ _

Sans scratched the back of his skull. “Basically,” he explained, “it’s a little more complicated than that, but you got the picture.” 

Unexpectedly, a few shouts and a clang of some sort sounded from the kitchen. Red sighed. “I’ll go get it.” He stood up, adjusted his black jacket, and turned towards the kitchen. As he strode into the now marinara sauce-covered kitchen, he heard (Y/n) get off the red couch and climb the wooden stairs to her room.

Poor thing.

***

(Y/n) shut the door to her room, sighing in relief.

_ ‘Solace at last...’ _

She picked up her bag she had previously dropped on the floor and set it down on her bed. Opening the battered backpack, she pulled out a comfy pair of pajamas and a toothbrush and toothpaste that Grillby had given her and placed them on her bed as well. She glanced at her old pack and frowned. It was empty. After finding her and nursing her back to health, Grillby had given her the clothes on her back and the things in her bag. She smiled sadly. He had done so much for her...she had to pay him back. 

When Grillby offered her a job at his pub, she had initially declined. After all, it was a monsters-only business. However, it  _ was  _ a start to pay him back. So she took the job. She liked it so far. All of the customers were nice and treated her well. Even though she had only worked there for two days, it felt like home.

(Y/n) looked back to her now empty bag. Maybe she could use her first pay check to buy some new clothes.

Bringing back her focus to her belongings, she slipped off her (f/c) hoodie and jeans and changed into her pajamas. The girl sighed, embracing the softness of her fresh clothes. Noticing how tired she was, she yawned and sat on the bed.

_ ‘Woah this is really comfortable.’ _

Her eyes flitted from the mattress to her backpack and tooth essentials. Should she be a responsible adult or sleep?

(Y/n)’s heavy eyelids drooped. Sleep it was.

With a swipe of her hand, her toothbrush and paste went into her bag and then it fell onto the carpeted floor. (Y/n) laid back onto the bed, not bothering to get under the (f/c) covers. As she rested her head on her pillow, she noticed a lightswitch on the wall above her bed.

_ ‘How convenient.’ _

She flicked the switch and the room became dark. The steady pattering of the rain hitting the roof slowly eased her into a more relaxed state. After a moment of listening to the calming rain, a cracked face suddenly appeared in the shadows, one she saw every night since she could remember. Her hands pressed to her fluttering chest in alarm and she gave it a weak smile. In the corner where it sat on the other side of the room, it lifted a bony hand and waved before melting into darkness. She lowered her hands and sighed. 

“Goodnight, old friend,” (Y/n) whispered before falling into sleeps’ arms.

***

When she awoke in the morning, a pleasant smell wafted in the air, shaking her nightmares away from her memory. Her eyelids slowly lifted. She blinked a few times, gathering her surroundings. Once she remembered where she was, she sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Head now clear, the pleasant scent narrowed into recognition. The girl’s eyes quickly looked around the room and then zeroed in on the cause of the smell.

Next to her bed on the floor sat a platter with a stack of fresh pancakes and a glass of orange juice. A note was tucked under a vase of blue flowers beside the platter. (Y/n) leant down from her spot on the bed and carefully slid the note from under the vase. Opening it, she read:

(Y/N), WE ARE VERY SORRY FOR OUR BEHAVIOR LAST NIGHT! WE NOTICED THAT YOU DID NOT EAT DINNER, SO WE MADE YOU BREAKFAST. IF YOU NEED US, WE ARE ALL AT OUR JOBS. HAVE FUN AT WORK TODAY!

-PAPYRUS, BLUEBERRY, EDGE 

(Y/n) grinned.

Maybe living here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

***

Rus inhaled a deep breath of the lit cigarette he held carefully in his bony hand. He relaxed into the red couch as he sighed, tendrils of white smoke escaping from his skull. Today was his day off from his job at the local library. No one was home except him and the precious silence that rested in the atmosphere...or so he thought.

“BROTHER!”

Rus jumped in surprise and then relaxed.

“Hey, bro. What’s up?” he calmly asked.

Blueberry stood in front of the sitting skeleton and grinned, eye lights in the shape of stars. Behind him, Rus noticed, Papyrus stood. Unlike Blueberry, he had changed out of his usual attire into some more casual clothing which consisted of an orange t-shirt and some blue jeans. He kept his signature red boots and scarf with the outfit.

Papyrus cleared his throat. “RUS! WE, um, noticed how (Y/n)’s closet was empty besides her pajamas--”

“AND HER BAG HAD NOTHING IN IT BUT A TOOTHBRUSH AND TOOTHPASTE,” Blueberry interrupted, “SO WE WERE WONDERING--”

“If we could get her some more clothes,” Papyrus finished, tugging at the edge of his red scarf.

Rus leaned back and thought for a moment. They barely knew anything about (Y/n), not even to say her favorite type of clothing, or size, for that matter. But he knew his brother, and Papyrus well enough to know why they came to him with this question.

He put out his cigarette in the glass ashtray by his side and gazed at the two skeletons.

“One,” he began, “don’t peek in people’s stuff, bro. I’m pretty sure Pap over here already gave you that lecture as soon as he found you in (Y/n)’s room.” Blueberry blushed blue and hung his head. Rus continued, “Two, aren’t you guys supposed to be at work?” Papyrus scratched his spine. “WE WERE GIVEN THE REST OF THE DAY OFF DUE TO UNDYNE AND YOUR ALPHYS BREAKING THE WEIGHT LIFTING MACHINE IN A BATTLE AGAINST BRUTAL STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE.” Rus nodded. Sounds about right for them.

“Three, bro, are you asking if I can go to Grillby’s and see what the human likes while Pap takes her measurements from memory and you both make clothes for her from that?”

Blueberry nodded. “Kinda. Me and Papyrus  _ would  _ make everything, but there are some things that we can’t make...Pap said that (Y/n) and Dr. Undyne have about the same dimensions, so I was wondering after going to Grillby’s you could take Dr. Undyne to the mall to get the human some other clothing.”

Rus raised a bone brow. That had to be the first time in a while that Blueberry  _ hadn’t  _ shouted his sentences. The hoodied skeleton slowly rose from his couch and stretched. “Yeah, sure. I can do that for you, bro.” 

Blueberry jumped in joy and Papyrus let out a few “Nyeh’s.” The small skeleton hugged his brother and exclaimed, “THANK YOU SO MUCH, BROTHER!” He then turned to Papyrus and pointed with an air of unbreakable confidence. “TO THE SEWING MACHINES!!” The skeletons ran upstairs like lightning, leaving a dizzy Rus in their wake. 

The tall skeleton sighed and straightened his orange hoodie. Once those two were set on a goal,  _ nothing  _ could keep them from reaching it. He slipped on his orange and red sneakers and padded to the door. 

Rus slipped out of the log cabin and walked to Grillby’s in peace. It truly was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming…

A sharp pain emitted from his skull and he shook the memories away.

No point in dwelling in the past.

He focused then on the way the previous night’s rain glistened like a million sparkling diamonds on the grass and how the houses shimmered in the afternoon light. Rus smiled to himself. He never saw anything like this in the Underground. The sunlight was blinding but also warm. It wasn’t as hot as Hotland, but it gave humans, and some monsters, sun burns. It was beautiful and painful; it was an abstract thing, reflecting and refracting, even giving life...Sans and Red knew more about that sciency stuff than he did. That’s why he was a librarian and not a scientist.

Rus became so lost in his thoughts that before he knew it, he was standing in front of Grillby’s. His blurry reflection stared back at him lazyly in front of the glass of the pub’s storefront window.

Grillby’s pub wasn’t a bad place, it was from Sans’ Underground and served some of the best burgers and fries that Rus had ever eaten. However, he did appreciate his Muffet’s bakery and tea parlor better, and his Grillby… 

He cringed. His Grillby was a  _ weird  _ guy.

Rus pushed open the wooden door to the pub and was greeted with the smell of grease and monster alcohol. It burned his nonexistent nose. The wooden floor creaked underneath his sneakers as he entered the dimly lit, warm room. At the back of the room, Sans sat on a wooden barstool cracking jokes with (Y/n) and drinking ketchup. Rus walked up to the bar and sat next to Sans. 

“Heya, Rus. How’s it goin’?” Sans asked with a lethargic smile spread on his face. 

Rus glanced between the smaller skeleton and the human. Her eyes were wide and her face pink. Her apron framed her black work clothes, a notebook and pencil peaked from the top of a grease-stained pocket. Shifting his eyelights back to Sans, he said, “I actually came to get to know (Y/n) more. We didn’t really talk much last night.” (Y/n) looked nervously in his direction. Sans quirked a bone brow but didn’t question Rus. He never came into Grillby’s unless it was important.

"W-well," (Y/n) stuttered, "what would you like to know?"

Rus tapped the bar rhythmically. The pattern of taps seemed to play a soothing tune. The girl began to relax. Sans winked at Rus. The tapping tune was a song they both used to make their brothers fall asleep. Apparently it worked with humans as well.

Now that (Y/n) was relaxed, Rus asked, "So, from what Blueberry tells me, you like the color (f/c) and Mettaton and Napstabot. Is there anything else you like?" The girl nodded. "I like reading...and anime." The two skeletons at the bar looked at each other knowingly. She'd like Dr. Alphys and Dr. Undyne. 

"What kind of anime?" Sans questioned. (Y/n) then listed off her favorite shows and then listed off a few ships she particularly enjoyed. Rus nodded.

"Another random question, what kind of clothing do you like?"

(Y/n) thought for a moment. "Comfortable, I suppose. I actually need to go clothes shopping as soon as I get my first paycheck at the end of the week."

The tall skeleton nodded and then stood up from his seat. In his orange hoodie pocket, he silently texted his brother everything the girl told him. While texting, Rus asked, "Oh one more question before I go, do you have a phone?" (Y/n) shook her head. Rus smiled and waved. "Thanks for answering my weird questions. Have a nice day, kid."

(Y/n) gave an awkward wave back as he left Grillby's. Once outside, he pulled his phone out and made a quick call.

"Hey, Doc. Can you give me a lift?"

***

"S-so this human girl, (Y/n), is now living with you guys despite having skelephobia?" The blue fish monster pushed up her glasses on her face. She focused on the road ahead her but glanced every so often at the tall skeleton seated next to her. He nodded his skull. Undyne sighed and clicked on her blinker to turn into the parking lot of the mall. "It was only a matter of time before you called me," she muttered under her breath.

Rus raised a bone brow. "Whatcha' mean, doc?" 

Undyne parked in a spot close to the entrance, shut off the car, and turned to the skeleton. "Me and Doctor A-Alphys set up c-cameras in the monster area, r-remember? We saw the human go into your h-house and not come out. Th-then we got phone calls from M-Muffet and Grillby telling us what was going on...s-sort of."

Rus hummed in understanding. He played with the little anime cat girl plushie that hung from Undyne's mirror. She smacked his hand and glared at him. He shrugged.

"S-so why am I driving you to the m-mall again?" she asked, fixing the plushie to face her. 

"Because," Rus explained, "my bro and Papyrus are making clothes for (Y/n) but they're probably all dresses and she needs normal clothes. Pap said she has the same dimensions as you."

Undyne narrowed her eyes. "So I'm just a m-model?"

"And here to help pick out clothes," Rus added.

"B-but we d-don't even know w-what kind of thing she l-likes and--"

"She likes anime, 'dyne."

The fish monster froze. Her yellow eyes widened and she fumbled with the lock on her door. "W-what are we doing sitting here?! Let's g-go!!"

Rus chuckled as he unlocked both doors. Undyne sped out of the parking lot and into the mall. Her white lab coat layed forgotten on the driver’s seat. He shook his head. ‘ _ Weeb.’  _ Figuring that she’d be in the Hot Topic in the mall, his eye socket glowed orange and he teleported.

A small scream came from Undyne as Rus popped in front of her. 

“Before you go crazy with the clothing  _ for (Y/n) _ ,” he added emphasis on who the clothing was for, “I have one more favor to ask of ‘ya.” 

Undyne fiddled with her red ponytail nervously. “Y-yeah?”

“The human doesn’t have a phone and I was wondering if you could make her one.”

Her eyes lit up. “I-I’ll call Dr. Alphys right away and she can work on it while we’re shopping!” Her anime covered phone case appeared from thin air and she furiously tapped on her screen. She then called the lizard scientist and explained what was going on. While she did that, Rus strolled around the dark store. As he passed a jewelry rack, a necklace caught his eyelights. The necklace had a long silver chain and an easy to clip clasp at the end of it. The charm was a deep blue heart, the same color of (Y/n)’s soul. Integrity. Rus smiled. It was a good quality to have, and most people didn’t have that. He picked up the necklace and held onto it.

He’d get it for her.

***

(Y/n) walked back to her new home with a smile on her face. It had been a good, normal day at Grillby’s, er, except for the weird conversation with Rus. She was glad that he wanted to get to know her, but his white eyelights bore into her like they were looking for something. She shuddered.  _ ‘I hope it was just him trying to see if I was okay or something.’  _

Shaking her head, she turned into the street that divided the monster houses from the human ones. From what she had heard from Grillby, most of the monsters from the Underground (or Underground(s)? She’d have to look into that.) wanted to live close to each other since a good portion of them didn’t trust humans. Thus, the monster neighborhoods opened. 

As (Y/n) passed the colorful houses, lost in her thoughts, a voice called out to her. “HUMAN! YOU PASSED OUR HOUSE!” She shook her head and looked around. She stood in front of a bunch of weird, lopsided tube-shaped houses of different colors. Her head turned around to see behind her. Edge sat on the wooden porch of their house, clothed in a dark grey turtleneck with black skinny jeans and his red scarf. Something white rested in his lap. The human girl quickly scurried up to the porch. “T-thank you for noticing my m-mistake. I was j-just...is that a cat?” 

Nestled in the skeleton’s arms was a white, fluffy cat. It mewled and purred loudly. (Y/n) smiled warmly. Edged laughed. “Nyeh heh! So humans like fluffy animals as well?” The girl kneeled on the porch to see the cat better. “Some do,” she murmured. “Can I pet them?” Edge nodded. (Y/n) lifted a hand to the animal to greet them. The cat sniffed the appendage and then nuzzled into the girl’s hand. The human laughed and petted the fluffy cat.

_ ‘Sooo soft and fluffyyyy.’ _

“What’s their name?” she asked absentmindedly.

“Doomfanger.”

(Y/n) stopped petting the animal and looked at Edge. “Doomfanger?” He nodded. “Look,” he took off a blood red glove and stuck a bony finger in front of the cat’s mouth. It bit his bones, flashing sharp fangs from its mouth. “It has fangs! It’s  _ clearly  _ a beast!” Doomfanger meowed and pawed at the skeleton’s hand. (Y/n) laughed. “It’s cute!” Edge blushed deep red. “IT’S NOT CUTE! It’s the beast with a  _ deadly _ bite!! He strikes  _ mortal terror _ in the hearts of my enemies!! Doomfanger helps me with missions and...subdues humans and…” he ran out of excuses.

Doomfanger squirmed out of Edge’s lap and crawled over to (Y/n). The human sat back on her legs and let the white cat onto her lap. Doomfanger padded around on (Y/n)’s jeans in a circle before curling up into a ball. As she laughed, Edge muttered grumpily, “Traitor.” 

He suddenly straightened his postured and looked into the girl’s (e/c) eyes. (Y/n) gulped and rested her hand on Doomfanger’s stomach. He looked serious. Edge grit his sharp teeth and began to speak.

“HUMAN…(Y/n)...I’m sorry if I have frightened you.”

She tilted her head. He was apologizing?

“I did not know that you had skelephobia. After the argument with those amature cooks, San- _ Red _ told me about it. I don’t understand how some humans can be afraid of their insides, but I can get why you’re scared of us. I’m...probably even scarier than the others.” Edge looked past (Y/n) and at the sunset. (Y/n) looked back at it as well. The sky was filled with pinks and lavenders above a red sun. It was breathtaking. 

Edge continued. “My world is full of hurt and pain and death. We did what we could to survive. I joined the royal guard only to keep an eye on my brother. He is weak and could be turned to dust at any moment. I have done many horrible things to protect him. I…” he faltered. He rested his eyelights back on (Y/n). “I have these cracks and scars as a result of that. Please don’t be afraid of me, human. I do not wish you harm.”

(Y/n) analyzed the skeleton. His arms rested at his sides on the porch. Edge’s legs hung off the porch loosely and his boots rested on the first wooden step. His stance was open, accepting. The ragged scarf he wore drooped around his shoulders. It looked very worn, like he hadn’t taken it off in years. Her eyes rested on his face. When she examined it, she noticed that although there were some similarities between Edge and the face she saw at night, there weren’t many. Edge looked worried and a tad bit hopeful. 

The girl pet Doomfanger softly. The purred and winked at Edge. The skeleton stared hard at the cat. (Y/n) chuckled. “Thank you for explaining to me everything...you’re a good guy, Edge.” He looked up at (Y/n), eyelights widened. She added with a smile, “Also, bad guys don’t like cute cats like Doomfanger here.” 

“DOOMFANGER IS NOT CUTE!” Edge yelled in embarrassment. 

The cat jumped out of the girl’s lap and ran down the wooden steps to the dog house. Edge sighed and stood up. “It’s getting dark, we should go inside.” He extended his ungloved hand to (Y/n). She stared at it for a moment and took it. He helped her stand up and smiled.

Living here really  _ wouldn’t _ be bad at all.

***

[E✖️CE∟∟ENτ]

[τRU∟Y, E✖️CE∟∟ENτ...]


	3. Welcome, (Y/n)!

Upon entering the living room with Edge by her side, (Y/n) was greeted with the rest of her skeleton roommates sitting on the couches, watching a dance routine by Mettaton and Napstabot. They must have not heard them come in, because no one looked in their direction. All eyelights were glued to the television screen. Edge slowly closed the door behind him, leaned on the arm of the green couch, and watched the routine silently. 

The catchy music was very mesmerizing. As (Y/n) stood by the table with the pet rocks, she recognized the dance on the screen. It was one of the first routines she had seen the two robots perform at their first show a year ago. Her foot began to tap at the beat rhythmically. Soon her hips began to sway. Before she knew it, she was copying the robots’ movements on the screen. She had memorized the dance down pat and didn’t miss a beat. (Y/n) was thankful that the steps weren’t as complicated as their more recent routines; she had already almost knocked over the table with the pet rocks. 

With her eyes closed, she became lost in the music and danced in sync with the monster stars. As the dance came to a close, (Y/n) bent over and caught her breath, it had been a long time since she last danced...when was it again?

Loud claps startled her from her train of thought. She quickly straightened and noticed that the entire room of skeletons were looking at her in awe and were clapping. “(Y/N), YOU SHOULD GO ON NAPSTABOT AND METTATON’S SHOW!!” Blueberry shouted excitedly, bouncing up and down on the blue carpet. Papyrus, beside the smallest skeleton, rocked on his heels and said with a light pink blush, “HUMAN, THAT WAS VERY GOOD! THE ONLY OTHER PERSON THAT RIVALED METTATON’S MOVES WAS THE MONSTER AMBASSADOR!” Sans nodded. “He’s right. That kid killed it, but you’re better in my opinion.” The other skeletons nodded in agreement. “You did great, sweetheart,” Red winked.

(Y/n) scratched the back of her neck and looked at the ground in embarrassment. She wasn’t used to being complimented. 

Blueberry turned to his brother who sat on the red couch, drinking a bottle of honey. “BROTHER, WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT IF (Y/N)  _ DID _ GO ON THE SHOW?! THINK OF ALL THE COOL OUTFITS SHE COULD…” he trailed off and turned to Papyrus. They stared at each other for a moment before turning to (Y/n). 

“(Y/N), I believe that you are here to make a new start for yourself. We know nothing about you, yet you live in our home, so we want you to be a part of our family.” Papyrus smiled warmly. Blueberry grinned wide, eyelights shaping into sparkling stars. “YEAH! AND ME AND PAPY HAVE A GIFT FOR YOU!” Rus nodded. “I also have a couple of gifts,” he said lazily. 

Sans, Red, and Edge looked in shock at the other skeletons. They had no idea what was going on. Neither did (Y/n). She blinked in silence. 

“W...what’s going on?” she asked in confusion. 

Papyrus tapped his foot lightly on the carpet as Blueberry rushed upstairs. “Blueberry and I noticed that you lacked clothing and we made some for you. What we couldn’t make, Rus and Doctor Undyne got at the mall for you.” (Y/n)’s eyes bulged. “You...did what?”

Blueberry suddenly appeared next to Papyrus with a stack of clothing almost as tall as he was. “LOOK THROUGH THEM, (Y/N)!! THESE ARE THE ONES WE MADE! THEY ARE VERY COOL!” (Y/n) gingerly took the stack from the excited skeleton and sat down on the floor, cross legged. She picked up each item from the stack and awed at its make. There were dresses and skirts and nightgowns and even a couple of outfits that looked identical to Papyrus’ and Blueberry’s. Most of the clothing was her in her favorite color and each item seemed to have been embroidered and sewn carefully. Any human would have spent  _ weeks  _ on this amount of clothing, but these monsters, (Y/n) guessed, used some sort of their magic to aid them with this project.

The last item in the stack was a (f/c) fluffy-rimmed jacket, almost like Red’s. The fabric was very soft to the touch. If (Y/n) was blindfolded, she would have said that the jacket she held was a blanket. The girl smiled widely and hugged the article of clothing. “Thank you guys so much!” (Y/n) said cheerily to Papyrus and Blueberry.

All of the skeletons seemed to melt.

_ ‘She’s so cute,’  _ they all thought.

Papyrus blushed a darker pink and Blueberry blushed a light blue.

“YOUR WELCOME, (Y/N)!!” they said in sync. 

Rus quickly snapped, startling the skeletons and human around him. “Now that you have the best made hoodie in the world and the bro’s fancy clothes, let’s move on to the comfy stuff, eh?” A couple of large plastic shopping bags appeared in an orange light next to (Y/n). Her head tilted in confusion at the sudden appearance of the bags but then straightened as she dismissed the thought. She opened the bags and pulled out several pairs of jeans, sweatpants, shorts, shirts with her favorite anime characters, and, though she didn’t remove  _ these  _ from the bags, undergarments. They were all her size and style. It was a little weird. They didn’t even know much about…

The memories from earlier that day came rushing to her. Her conversation with Rus replayed in her mind and she chuckled. “ _ That’s  _ why you came into Grillby’s and asked those questions!” The skeleton nodded. “Pap and Blue asked me to. Doctor Undyne helped with the shopping.” He winked, reaching into his orange hoodie. “I also got ya something personally.” Rus took his closed hand out of his pocket and offered it to (Y/n). She stood up from her spot on the carpet, walked over to the red couch, and placed an open hand underneath his closed one. From his grasp dropped a metal necklace. (Y/n) lifted it towards her face. 

She curiously inspected the deep blue heart and glanced at Rus questioningly. “It’s the same color as your soul,” he explained. “Souls have colors?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “Yep, and yours is that lovely shade of blue.”

“INTEGRITY,” Edge marveled, eyelights growing. “Human, that is a GREAT quality to have!”

(Y/n) blinked at the skeletons. 

Sans seemed to understand her silence and spoke.

“Every soul has a color. Monster souls, since we are made of magic, are pure white. Human souls have seven different colors that represent different qualities and traits. Red: determination, cyan: patience, orange: bravery, deep blue: integrity, purple: perseverance, green: kindness, and yellow: justice. A human soul can only have one color. Yours is integrity, the quality of being honest and having a strong moral principle. Not very many humans have integrity, and those who do usually get hurt.”

Red and Rus bore holes into Sans’ skull with their eyelights. He began to sweat. “B-b-but people who have integrity can be well trusted and can do nothing against their own morals! They are very good people.” He looked back at the two skeletons. They gave him their thumbs up and he sighed in relief. 

(Y/n) glanced at the necklace before putting it around her neck. It laid delicately against her jacket. She looked to Rus, then Papyrus and Blueberry as she said, “Thank you...you don’t know how much this all means to me...I…” She choked up for a moment. “I haven’t felt this welcomed anywhere, besides Grillby’s, since my parents died...thank you.”

All of the skeletons’ eye sockets went dark. One piece of the puzzle went into place. (Y/n) was an orphan. To their surprise, the girl was not crying. She just stared at them blankly. It reminded them of the look that Frisk wore when they first met them. They were orphaned too. 

How much pain had she been through? Was she homeless after being orphaned? Was that why Grillby had wanted her to stay with them? Was that why she had only the things Grillby gave her? What else had happened to her for her to want to…

Edge moved to the girl’s side and gave her a side hug. 

“(Y/n), do you like Chinese cuisine?” he asked gently. She nodded. “Well then, I also have a gift for you. I shall make anything you like in that area of human comfort food, if you so wish it.” 

(Y/n) looked up at him and smiled sheepishly. “C-could you make lo mein and fried rice?” Edge beamed. "Of course!! Those are fairly simple things to make! If you would like, I could also whip up a few batches of crab rangoon…" Edge guided (Y/n) into the kitchen as he spoke of other foods he could make and how long they would take to cook.

Meanwhile, Sans sat slouched on the green couch next to Red. They both looked exhausted. The blue clad skeleton took a bottle of ketchup from his jacket and sipped on it. Red, at the same time, drew a mustard bottle from his pocket and drank from it. They glanced at each other for a brief moment and sighed.

"Everyone's given the girl a present 'cept us," Red stated disdainfully.

"And I kinda blew it with the soul talk," Sans added glumly. 

They watched as Papyrus, Blueberry, and Rus talked about they're sewing and shopping adventures earlier that day. The two energetic ones flailed their arms around animatedly while Rus sat and nodded. Sans tapped a phalange on the arm of the couch, thinking of something he could give (Y/n). It had to be unique...something that would last a while...and something he could afford…

A lightbulb seemed to click over the skeleton's skull as he said, "got it." He hopped off the couch and walked up to Papyrus and Blueberry. "Hey, can I ask a favor from you two?" They paused their story midway and stared at Sans incredulously. Sans only asked favors when he was giving jokes or when it was  _ really  _ important. They guessed it was the latter. 

"SURE, BROTHER! What do you need?!" Papyrus asked cheerily with a slight bit of nervousness in his tone. 

"I'm gonna give (Y/n) something but I can't have her going into her room until I'm finished with it. Can you distract her down here if she tries to go upstairs?"

Papyrus' eyelights narrowed in suspicion. "Why would you need (Y/n) to…" The tall skeleton suddenly realized what his brother was gifting the human and crouched down to the smaller skeleton's height. "Are you sure you won't exert yourself?" he whispered. Sans nodded. Papyrus stood up once more and cleared his throat. 

"WE SHALL HELP YOU! THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEVER MISSES AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP SOMEONE IN NEED SUCH AS YOURSELF!" Papyrus exclaimed, placing his hand on his chest and wearing the biggest, most genuine grin in monster existence.

Sans' eyelights twinkled. He gave him a thumbs up and said, "Thanks, bro," before vanishing into thin air.

Red watched the exchange and sighed. Now he was the only one who had not given a gift. It seemed fitting to him, that he was the odd one out. He anxiously nibbled on a boney finger.

The sounds of his brother cooking in the kitchen and the skeletons' chatter became white noise. Red pulled his fluffy hood over his skull. His sockets grew dark and he began to sweat. He wished the lumpy green couch would swallow him up. He had nothing to give her. Nothing. There was nothing special about him. Red was the weakest of the skeleton bunch. He didn't really have a job or money. He couldn't do anything important and he hated it. He didn't even know what the human  _ liked.  _ How was he supposed to make a good impression like the rest? Knowing Sans, his gift had to be amazing. How could he compare to that? 

Red began to tremble and looked at his lap in frustration. Who was he kidding? (Y/n) would never want anyone like him. A weak loser. Heck, he already sounded like a creep when he first met her...yesterday. He clutched the edges of his jacket. Everything was too fast, too much change; there was so much  _ uncertainty  _ about the situation and he just wanted someone to like him,  _ (Y/n)  _ to like him. He just…

"Are you okay?" a soft spoken voice asked.

Red's eyelights flickered back to life and he glanced towards his left. Sitting next to him on the couch was a concerned looking (Y/n). Her torso was turned towards him, showing that she was only focusing on him. She reached a hand out and stopped right before his face. She took a deep breath and touched Red's cheek bones. He flushed a dark crimson. "W-what are y…" he began to ask before realizing she was wiping his tears from his skull. He didn't even notice he was crying.

"Th-thanks," he said softly when she was finished. She pulled back and sighed. "What's bothering you?"

The skeleton fiddled with his fingers. "I...have nothin' to give ya'...and I feel terrible about it." He looked down at the green couch cushion. "I can't seem to do anything right," he whispered. 

(Y/n)'s eyebrows furrowed, then relaxed as she assessed the situation. She sighed, "You tough-looking skeletons are really just the sensitive ones, huh?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can do many things right, Red. You tell great puns, and you're a good flirt," she teased. 

"Tch," Red muttered, "wordplay doesn't count." 

"Then do you have any hobbies? What's your job?"

Red rubbed his face and sighed in exasperation. "I technically don't have a job." (Y/n) bit her lip. "I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't know…"

"It's okay…" he trailed off and looked out the window behind the couch. The night sky was clear, no clouds to be seen. The moon shone brightly in the dark blanket covering the Earth. Tomorrow would be a nice dry day…

"I grow flowers," Red mumbled. "I took the ones from the Undergrounds and made them thrive up here." The corners of (Y/n)'s lips pricked upward. "Were the flowers this morning from you?"

He shook his head. "Boss and the other two took them from my garden. I gave 'em a lecture for that, though I understood why they took 'em." (Y/n) nodded. 

Fiddling with the strings on her jacket, she asked, "Can I see it?" 

"The garden?" She nodded eagerly. "Besides this morning, I've never seen plants from Underground." Red stared at her for a moment. Her (e/c) eyes grew big in a pleading stare. "Are...are you giving me  _ puppy eyes  _ to see  _ flowers,  _ dollface?" Red smirked. "Okay, okay. Follow me." 

He and (Y/n) got up from the couch and walked out the front door. "Do you guys have a back door?" she asked as they rounded the side of the house. "Yeah, but it's in the kitchen and everyone knows not to bother Boss when he's cooking....well, here it is."

When they made it to the backyard, (Y/n) gasped. Big, bright blue flowers glowed in the dark and yellow ones sparkled bright in the moonlight. A small blue stream sectioned off the garden from the rest of the backyard. Dark lily pads looked like shadows across the iridescent water. A few cattails grew on the bank of the stream. They swayed in the soft night breeze.

"Red...this is amazing!" she breathed. "Does everything glow?"

"'Cept for the buttercups, yeah," he said sheepishly. "I tried makin' it look like Waterfall."

The girl crouched in front of the stream and wiggled her fingers in the water. It was cold, but not frigid. When she took her fingers out, they slightly glowed a light blue. "What's Waterfall?"

"It's a part of the Underground. It looked almost like this but more rocky and no buttercups…" he sighed. "It was my favorite part of the Underground. Always quiet, no one to bother 'ya." 

Red watched as the girl stood up and crossed over the stream to the flower garden. She moved towards the brighter patch of blue flowers. Her fingertips brushed against the soft petals of flower close by, the blue light from it bouncing off her skin. “It’s so beautiful,” she murmured.

_ “ It’s so beautiful.” _

(Y/n) breathed in sharply in surprise. The flower she touched mimicked the sound. “What is this?” she asked.

_“What is this?”_

“Those are  _ echo flowers _ ,” Red explained, “they repeat everything you say.” He joined (Y/n) where she stood amongst the blue flowers. She leaned down to inspect the flower that spoke to her. Her necklace reflected the light of the flower. “So pretty,” Red whispered under his breath.

_“So pretty,”_ a flower repeated next to him. He glared at the plant and looked toward (Y/n). She was staring at him with a blush on her face. 

“We...should probably go inside,” Red stammered. 

_ “We...should probably go inside.” _

(Y/n) chuckled and the flower next to her chuckled back. The skeleton loved that sound. He decided to later go back in the garden to pick that flower. ‘ _ Wait that’s a little creepy, Sans,’  _ he thought to himself. He shook his head and let the thoughts dissipate. The human girl walked toward him and asked, “Can I pick one?”

_ “Can I pick one?” _

He nodded. She leaned down and dug her fingers in the soil before pulling a large echo flower out of the earth. “I’ll put it in my room.”

“ _I’ll put it in my room.”_

Red grinned. “I have a spare pot in the house. We can go and make it comfortable before putting it in your room.”

_ “I have a spare pot in the house. We can go and make it comfortable before putting it in your room.” _

(Y/n) smiled brightly. “Thank you, Red.”

_ “Thank you, Red.” _

***

Once the echo flower made its new home in the clay pot Red put it in, Edge announced that dinner was ready. All of the skeletons filed into the kitchen and sat at the table. An extra chair had been placed at the corner of the table. “We’ll get a bigger table,” Edge grumbled under his breath. When they were all seated, Edge put the food on the table. (Y/n)’s mouth watered. Everything looked so delicious. Lo mein was heaped up in a large bowl, glistening in the warm light of the kitchen. Every person had a small bowl of fried rice and a few pieces of crab rangoon. Other classic Chinese dishes lined the table on white dishes.

“ _ BONE _ APPETITE!” Edge exclaimed and everyone dug into the food. 

Each dish popped in flavor. The taste was immaculate. Ten out of ten. Will eat again.

(Y/n) devoured all of her food. Her plates and bowls were very clean by the time she was done. As she licked the rest of the duck sauce off her fork, she noticed the rest of the skeletons were looking at her. She slowly lowered her fork to her plate and blushed, embarrassed. 

“My Asgore, human, did you even eat today?” Edge asked. (Y/n) scratched the back of her neck. “I ate the pancakes you guys left for me this morning but after that, I think I forgot to eat.” Blueberry sighed. “You work at a restaurant and forgot to eat?” he asked, sounding upset. “I bet Sans was there so he could have reminded you.” Sans shrugged. “It’s not my business to tell the kid when to eat or not. She’s an adult, she can take care of herself…” 

Sans froze. “Umm…(Y/n), how old are you?” All of the rest of the girl’s roommates stiffened. They didn’t even think about her age when she moved in. It was summer, so she could be in high school for all they knew.

“I’m eighteen,” she said, confused why all the skeletons looked rigid. They all relaxed and went back to eating. (Y/n) patted her full stomach, satisfied with her meal. “Edge, this has to be the best Chinese I have ever eaten! How do you do it?” The skeleton winked. “It’s my personal talent...and a tiny bit of magic.” 

“Bullcrap,” intervened Red, “he teaches culinary classes at the local university. He practices everyday just to make a dish perfect  _ without magic. _ ” 

Edge crossed his arms and glared at his brother. “You're a professor?” (Y/n) asked, surprised. “Yes, and I teach self defense-defense classes for humans and monsters.” 

“That’s cool,” (Y/n) awed. Red nodded. 

Sans finished his food and cleared his throat. “(Y/n), since you’re done with your food, would you like me to help you bring your things up to your room?” 

“Oh, yes, that would be great!”

The two excused themselves from the table and moved to the living room. Sans picked up (Y/n)’s bags of clothing and she picked up her potted echo flower. The skeleton eyed the plant but said nothing. They moved upstairs and paused when they got to the girl’s door. 

“(Y/n), my gift is a little different than the rest. It’ll only last about a month because it’s part magic and part human science, but if you want it to stay longer, I’ll see what I can do.” She quirked an eyebrow at him and opened her door. The ceiling was scattered with glow in the dark stars. “Aaww, that’s so sweet, Sans!”

_ “Aaww, that’s so sweet, Sans!”  _ the blue flower she held echoed.

He shook his skull as he set the plastic bags on her bed. “Nah, that ain’t my gift.” He moved toward the switch on the wall. “ _ This  _ is my gift.” He flipped the switch and the ceiling morphed into what looked like a galaxy. 

“Whoa…” (Y/n) stared at the ceiling with wide eyes. The echo flower repeated her expression of awe. She could pick out all the constellations of the sky and even a few planets. “It’s the Milky Way. I got the idea from a ghost friend of mine. He does something like this with his family, says it’s a tradition or somethin’,” Sans explained. 

She looked down at the skeleton and jumped. Right underneath his eye sockets the bone was dark grey. He looked exhausted. “You didn’t have to do this for me,” she said worriedly. “Are you okay? You aren’t hurting yourself just to do this for me, right?”

_ “You aren’t hurting yourself just to do this for me, right?” _

Sans rubbed his sockets and grinned. “Nah, I’m fine. I just need some sleep.” He walked out of the room and then peered through the doorway. “G’night, (Y/n). Sweet dreams and all that stuff.” He waved and then strolled out of sight.

That night, (Y/n) did indeed sleep well, and no cracked face appeared in the shadows…

***

**[Entry number ~~↝❕~~ ]**

**[The subject has finally been fully welcomed into the household]**

**[The inhabitants seem to have taken a liking to the subject. Their skelephobia has dwindled down for now]**

**[I will not visit them for a week]**

**[I would like to see what they will do with my absence…]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gaster's text wouldn't format like last chapter so I'm kinda sad:(
> 
> But besides that, this was such a fluffy chapter<3
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Where Papyrus Subtly Realizes He Is Baby

When (Y/n) awoke the next morning, her eyes were met with stars. A smile graced her lips. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at that moment. All of her skeleton roommates were so kind to her and made her feel...special. Yes, she did jump slightly when one of them appeared before her but she was getting better. Skeletons weren’t so bad once you got to know them.

She flipped her lightswitch on and the stars turned into the white, glow in the dark pieces of plastic on her ceiling. The girl hopped off her bed and sauntered over to her closet where she had folded her clothes before she went to bed the previous night. She opened the door and stared at the shelves. She had never had this many options of clothing to wear before.

As she thought about what to wear that day, she remembered that Grillby had given her the day off. (Y/n) reached into the closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants, a tank top with one of her favorite anime characters, and her new hoodie. Once she got dressed, she fixed her hair into some comfortable style and went downstairs. 

The house was pretty quiet. (Y/n) tried to look for a clock to see what time it was. Maybe she woke up really early and everyone was asleep? 

The lovely smell of cinnamon caressed her nose and proved her question wrong. At least one person was still at home, cooking. (Y/n) padded over to the kitchen to see Papyrus making french toast. Papyrus flipped a piece of bread on the pan, watching it sizzle, and added cinnamon to the other side. He seemed so focused on his task that he didn't notice she was there. The girl leaned on the doorway and listened to him hum a tune. The humming turned into the skeleton softly singing.

_“Well, he said_

_There's nothing like your smile_

_Sort of subtle and perfect and real_

_He said_

_You never knew how wonderful_

_That smile could make someone feel_

_And he knew_

_Whenever you get bored_

_You scribble stars on the cuffs of your jeans_

_And he noticed_

_That you still fill out the quizzes_

_That they put in those teen magazines_

_But he kept it all inside his head_

_What he saw he left unsaid_

_And though he wanted to_

_He couldn't talk to you_

_He couldn't find the way_

_But he would always say_

_If I could tell her_

_Tell her everything I see_

_If I could tell her_

_How she's everything to me_

_But we're a million worlds apart_

_And I don't know how I would even start_

_If I could tell her_

_If I could tell her..._

_He thought_

_You looked really pretty, er_

_It looked pretty cool when you put indigo streaks in your hair_

_And he wondered how you learned to dance_

_Like all the rest of the world isn't there_

_But he kept it all inside his head_

_What he saw he left unsaid_

_If I could tell her_

_Tell her everything I see_

_If I could tell her_

_How she's everything to me_

_But we're a million worlds apart_

_And I don't know how I would even start_

_If I could tell her_

_If I could tell her”_

Tears pin pricked (Y/n)’s eyes and she sniffled. Papyrus jerked in surprise at the sound, flinging his spatula across the room. He turned to the girl and his white eyelights met her (e/c) eyes. (Y/n) blinked slowly. The only sound now in the kitchen was the sizzle of the french toast in the pan. The skeleton coughed awkwardly and rubbed his bare hands on his grey sweatpants. 

“H-human, you’re up early,” he uncharacteristically stuttered. He glanced at the pan and grabbed a fresh spatula out of a nearby drawer in the counter. Papyrus flipped the toast and sighed when he saw that it was burnt. 

The human moved off the doorframe and sat at a chair at the table. “I don’t have a clock, so I didn’t know what time it was when I woke up.” Papyrus nodded his head in reply as he dropped another piece of toast in the pan. She straightened out her hoodie, tugging on the edge of her sleeves. “You sing wonderfully,” (Y/n) mumbled. The tall skeleton stiffened. “Th-thanks…” he said softly. 

“Where did you hear that song?” (Y/n) asked, her voice a little louder as her curiosity bled through her nervousness. “The Undernet...the monster internet sometimes bleeds through the human browser and picks up certain videos...that one song came into the Undernet while we were Underground,” Papyrus explained after a moment of hesitation. She watched as he flipped more toast in the pan, the smell of burnt cinnamon floating in the air. 

“It’s a beautiful song,” she commented. 

“Yes, it is.”

He tugged on his white tank top, smearing a little cinnamon stain on the edge. Papyrus turned off the stove burner and dished out the last piece of toast before putting it on a platter on the counter with the rest of its brethren. He placed the platter on the table and brought out plates and forks from their resting places in the kitchen. (Y/n) looked on the table to see that the butter and syrup were already present. Papyrus handed a plate and fork to the girl and motioned to the toast. 

“We’re the only ones up right now. It’d be best to eat before the rest of them get up, nyeh heh.”

She chuckled and took a piece of french toast from the stack. After doctoring it up, she took a bite and chewed slowly. It wasn’t bad...but it couldn’t compare to what Edge made the previous night. (Y/n) gave him a thumbs up and he grinned wide.

“I’m glad you like it!! I put everything I had into that toast!” Papyrus exclaimed cheerily. “Eat as much as you like!” His smile tilted downward for a second before adding, “Actually, I would like to ask a favor of you, (Y/n), that would require you not eating as much toast as your heart desires.”

(Y/n) set her fork down and swallowed the rest of the toast in her mouth. She nodded, waiting for him to continue. 

“I have a friend that I help train once a week and she...can’t usually keep up with me,” he flinched. “I was wondering if you could go jogging with us this morning. I have a feeling that she jogs at a human speed also might like the company of another female who also likes anime. I know nothing of that topic but every time she talks about it she speeds up her jogging so…” Papyrus trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

The girl chewed on another piece of toast. After she finished the bit, she asked, “Your friend needs encouragement in her training so you want me to help her get going again?” Papyrus’ face lit up. “EXACTLY!” (Y/n) thought about how long it had been since she had done physical exercise...never. But if she was helping out the tall, sweet skeleton, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

“Okay, I’ll jog with you and your friend.” 

Suddenly, from the door emitted two weak knocks. 

“AH THAT MUST BE HER.”

Papyrus walked to the front door and opened it, revealing a small, yellow lizard monster with large round glasses. She wore a large tank top with a cat girl on the front and teal shorts that poked from underneath it. She looked very nervous to be there. 

“Doctor Alphys, this is (Y/n), the human that’s been living with us!” Papyrus introduced the two females, and they nodded.

“I-I-I-I’ve seen you i-i-in the neighborhood and h-h-heard so much a-about you f-f-from Sans and Grillby,” Alphys stuttered, pushing up her glasses. (Y/n) raised a brow but didn’t question that she knew who she was. The girl figured that the whole neighborhood was talking about her presence at Grillby’s and in the monster division of town. It was unusual for a human to work at a monster business but even more unusual for that human to live with monsters as well. Except for the monster ambassadors, that is.

“Well, are we ready to go?” the skeleton asked.

(Y/n) looked at the table and back at Papyrus. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she questioned. The skeleton facepalmed. “OH YES I FORGOT ABOUT NUTRITION! Clumsy me. When we are done with our breakfast, WE SHALL BE OFF!”

***

The jog with the monsters wasn’t too tiring once Papyrus realized that sprinting isn’t the same as jogging. That explained why the poor lizard had trouble keeping up with the skeleton. After that was out of the way, (Y/n) learned that the training wasn’t just physical but also mental. 

“WHAT DO YOU SAY TO YOURSELF EVERY MORNING?!”

“I...love myself!” Alphys huffed.

“AND WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOURSELF?!”

“M-My...body...and my mind!”

“GOOD! NOW LIST ONE HUNDRED DIGITS OF PI!”

...yes, she did list all the first one hundred digits of pi. (Y/n) seemed awed by the display of the smart scientist and Papyrus’ routine. Science and math problems were mixed in with the declarations of self love, to keep Alphys’ attention, (Y/n) guessed. Someone mentioned anime in mid jog and the lizard monster seemed to glow. For a good thirty minutes, all (Y/n) heard about was an anime called _Mew Mew Kissy Cutie_ (though she was pretty sure it was a generic remake of _Tokyo Mew Mew_ ) and, if she was interested, there were three other monsters who met every Saturday night to watch it. The human accepted the offer, resulting in a little victory dance from Alphys as she jogged.

As Papyrus' routine began to come to a close, the sun rose into the sky, blaring its heat on the trio. (Y/n) was growing steadily uncomfortable in her jacket. A drop of sweat trailed down her neck and into the folds of her new hoodie. The girl bit her lip. She _really_ didn't want to take her jacket off. That was practically the only thing she had worn in front of anyone--sleeves, to be more precise. But the heat kept growing.

"HUMAN, ARE YOU OKAY? You look a little...OVERCOOKED!" Papyrus slowed his jog to a brisk walk to match the human.

"I...I'm fine," she said, averting her eyes from the skeleton's gaze.

Alphys noticed (Y/n)'s unease. 

"W-why don't you take off y-your hoodie? It's w-w-way too hot out here for it. I-I'm a doctor so if you fall o-or anything I-I'll be here b-but I advise that you take it off."

(Y/n) sighed. Alphys was right.

She pulled the (f/c) fabric off her torso and welcomed the early afternoon breeze. The girl smiled. It had been a while since her skin felt the outside air. She pulled the thick straps of her tank top into the correct places on her shoulders and tied her hoodie around her waist.

_Freedom._

"...(Y/n)...what happened to you?"

_Oh...I almost forgot why I wear hoodies all the time._

The two monsters stopped in their tracks and inspected the human.

Bruises littered her torso and her arms covered in scrapes and scars. On her back lay a large pink scar, almost a hand wide, that stretched from between her shoulder blades and down beyond the fabric of her tank top.

Who knows how far it went down.

(Y/n) paused for a moment. "Humans happened...and other things."

Alphys pushed up her large glasses on her face and examined the large scar.

"This was magic inflicted…" she mumbled, not stuttering for once.

"Magic inflicted?" (Y/n) asked.

"S-so you didn't know it was made by magic?"

Papyrus looked at the two females in confusion.

"What's going on with the hurt-(Y/n) again?"

The yellow monster looked up at the human girl, her brow sweating. "Can I take you to my lab to heal you and examine that scar?" She turned to Papyrus, "Undyne will be there so you guys can hang out until we're done." (Y/n) and Papyrus nodded.

“Good. Th-then let’s go.”

*?*

Warmth filled (Y/n)’s core as the green magic surrounded her body. All her dark bruises and scrapes faded, but the tiny scars and the large scar on her back remained. The magic melted away slowly. Alphys emerged from behind the oddly-shaped machine, wringing her scaly hands. “The artificial healing magic did w-what it could but the scars will stay unless you have Toriel l-look at them,” she explained, looking up at the human on the operating table. 

(Y/n) sat up and popped her back. A yawn escaped her mouth. Healing magic must make you feel tired or, at least, artificial magic might. She rubbed her eyes.

“Are you tired? You must be...here,” the scientist scrounged around her lab coat and pulled out a small piece of wrapped candy, “i-it’s monster candy. You should feel b-better after eating this.” She held it out to the human who took it with a murmured “thanks.” 

The candy tasted tooth-rotting sweet. (Y/n) almost gagged on the piece. Yep, it definitely made her less tired.

“Now that you’re healed, I’d like to ask you some questions about your past and how you...might have gotten that scar o-o-on your back.”

The human kicked their legs on the side of the table, nervously. 

“I know that you’re a doctor and all...but I have no idea how to explain it.”

Alphys pushed up her glasses, the glare not hiding her confused stare. 

“Why don’t you t-try from the beginning?” she asked hopefully.

(Y/n) stared at one of the empty walls in the bright room, one without anime posters of cat girls, and began her tale. “I don’t remember much before monsters resurfaced. I know my parents loved me and that I was weird growing up. I had an abnormal fear of skeletons which got me picked on a lot, but I don’t have memories of this, I just _know_ these facts. I _know_ my parents died. I _know_ I’ve always had creepy dreams at night. I _know_ everything about me, just no pictures, memories, _nothing_ …” A single tear rolled down the girl’s flushed cheeks. She hadn’t told anyone this, not even Grillby. “I’ve always had that scar though. I don’t know how I got it. I know if I told anyone that, they wouldn’t believe me.”

Alphys nodded. She’d have to look into magic-inflicted wounds and scars. Although she didn’t like asking her “Fell” counterpart for help, she knew she was more experienced in that area than anyone else. The monster made a mental note to call her up and ask about it later on that evening.

“And the other s-scars?”

She hung her head. “M-me,” she stuttered. ~~The only way to get out her frustration was her pain.~~ (Y/n) sighed. “But I haven’t done that in a while...Mr. Grillby has helped me out a lot. Working for him keeps me busy.” 

The monster fiddled with the sleeves of her lab coat. “That’s good...Grillby helping you, n-not the other thing.” Alphys took a deep breath, preparing herself for her next question. “G-Grillby told me--in confidence!--th-that you were m-m-molested...do y-y-y-you know who did it?”

(Y/n)’s face darkened. Her feet stopped kicking and went still against the side of the cold table. The air thickened and tensed. Alphys gulped and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by a small voice.

“...no...no, I don’t…”

***

Back in the main room of Alphys’ lab, which was really just her house, Papyrus sat on a bean bag chair across from Undyne who sat on a blue velvet loveseat. His bare hands held his skull as his elbows rested on top of his clothed femurs. She couldn’t see his face, not Undyne. No one could see how he looked. It was plain obvious. He was ~~scared~~ very, _very_ worried, but no one needed to know that. (Y/n) would be fixed up by Dr. Alphys and then they would go home and eat lunch and have take-out for dinner, because it was take-out night, and watch Mettaton and Napstabot and everything was going to be okay and she was _definitely_ in no real danger _at all_ and _wasn’t_ going to die and…

“You like her.”

Papyrus tensed.

“I-I DO NOT!”

Undyne sighed. “Papyrus, you’ve never been this more concerned about anyone, besides Sans, and you’re trying to hide your blush from me from when I said that you liked her.” Her abnormally soft voice caused the skeleton to twitch. He lifted his face out of his hands to meet the fish monster’s yellow eye. “I...MIGHT be concerned...but I am DEFINITELY NOT blushing...OR LIKE ANYONE!” Undyne’s fins flared in annoyance. “Papyrus...what do you use to comfort yourself around everyone?” 

“MY SCARF, WHY?”

“Where is it?” she asked teasingly.

The skeleton’s eyelights went out as he touched his bare neck. He never forgot to put on his scarf before. He wore it everywhere and with every outfit...except for his dating outfits. His sockets narrowed at the fish woman. “S-so what if I didn’t wear it today?” he said nervously. “I-I went jogging and to run with a scarf is a safety hazard…”

Undyne shook her head. 

“Don’t deny it. You won’t convince me that you don’t like...what was her name?”

“(Y/n)...the human that lives with all of us now…” Papyrus sighed.

The other monster’s eye widened. “OH! _That’s_ why you’re denying it!” she shouted in glee. Papyrus tilted his skull. “What is why I am denying the fact that I like (Y/n) but am scared that she will never return my amorous feelings and go with Red or my brother or Edge or…” he closed his jaw as he quickly realized his mistake. A smug grin stretched upon Undyne’s face.

“Man...this is _so_ just like one of Alphys’ animes…” she sighed.

Papyrus wanted to question what his friend meant but realized it would only result in an hour long speech on how great the cartoons were, so he decided against it. Recognizing his silence, Undyne scooted to the edge of the loveseat and peered down at his sitting form. “So have ya’ told the punk how you felt yet?” The skeletal monster sat up straight and crossed his arms. 

“Undyne, of all monsters, _you_ should know that the dating handbook says you must wait longer than two days before telling your crush that you like them. You didn’t tell Alphys for _years._ ”

She shrunk a little in her seat, scooting back towards the middle of the cushion. Sweating, she continued her questioning. “Does (Y/n) at least have a clue that you might like her?” 

Papyrus rubbed his hands on his sweatpants, remembering the morning’s events. 

“She...MIGHT have caught me singing while I was cooking breakfast this morning…” his gaze shifted to anywhere but the ex-captain of the Royal Guard. 

“And what were you singing?” Undyne asked, genuinely interested.

His white eyelights finally rested on the pink fish-patterned wallpaper. 

“‘If I Could Tell Her’ from that musical that leaked into the Undernet last year,” he muttered, trying to distract himself by counting the fish on the wallpaper. “Oh boy... _Dear Evan Hansen_ , huh? That’s romantic and uh...weird,” Undyne commented. He nodded absentmindedly as he scanned the wallpaper. Four hundred thirty-two fish. At least the pattern was consistent.

“...rus are you listening?”

The skeleton removed his focus from the wallpaper back to his friend. He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Undyne. I just really feel uncomfortable talking about this right now.” The fish monster bought his excuse and nodded. Standing up, she offered to make him tea which he accepted. As much as he appreciated his friend, he really didn’t like when she messed with his love life. Before she left the room, she turned and gave Papyrus a huge grin. 

“I honestly don’t give a darn about who you like, Pap. I just want you to be happy. But if anyone tries to break your soul…” her eye glinted, “then _I’ll beat them up and make sure they don’t see you ever again._ ” 

Papyrus began to sweat. 

“Please don’t be MURDERY again, Undyne. No one is going to break my heart,” he reassured her.

After a nod in his direction, she went to the kitchen to brew some tea.

The skeleton relaxed in the comfy bean bag chair, indulging in the fact that his brother couldn’t see him acting as lazy as he was. Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling, pondering over (Y/n). She was smart, pretty, and knew how to make spaghetti! And other foods as well! She could dance just as good as Mettaton himself and was a fan of his, like Papyrus was. (Y/n) was interesting to him...but he knew she was hurt. Those scars, especially the big one, worried him greatly. He didn’t know what happened to the human, but Sans had told him it was bad and that they all just needed to take good care of her and make sure she was very happy.

He intended to do just that. 

“Papyrus? Are y-you okay?” a small voice asked.

(Y/n)’s face filled his vision as she leaned over the skelton. A soft orange blush rose to his cheekbones. “Y-YES I AM,” he coughed, lowering his voice, “I am fine, human.” (Y/n) backed away as Papyrus sat up and examined the human. Her stance seemed relaxed and her body no longer looked so beaten up like before. Only the scars remained. A smile tugged at her lips. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you so worried and at ease at the same time.” 

Papyrus’ signature grin returned at the presence of the girl’s smile. 

“I SUPPOSE. HAS DR. ALPHYS FIXED YOU UP AND LOOKED AT YOUR SCAR?” 

She pulled her hoodie around her waist tighter and nodded. “She also made me this phone! She said it was another present from Rus. He’s really thoughtful.”

Even though he had already given the human clothing as his gift, his soul dropped. Rus had given above and beyond the rest of them. ~~Besides, she’d like someone more laid back than someone as loud and energetic as himself.~~

“That really is wonderful!” Papyrus shrugged off his thoughts. “I will have to give you my phone number!”

“A-actually Alphys programmed all of you guys’ numbers into my phone already.” Seeing the skeleton’s cheery spirit deflating, she added, “B-but I can always change the contact names!” (Y/n) handed the sleek phone to Papyrus who immediately scrolled to his contact profile. After setting his nickname on her phone, he pulled out his own phone and set her number and nickname in his contacts. When he gave her phone back, (Y/n) looked at his name choice.

**[CoolDudeB) contact info has been updated]**

(Y/n) chuckled. “Cool! Can I see my name?” Papyrus jolted up out of his chair, blush now even _more_ orange, and announced, “I MUST SEE WHAT IS TAKING UNDYNE SO LONG WITH THE TEA SHE WENT TO GET TEN MINUTES AGO!!” As the skeleton raced out of the room, his cell phone dropped out of his grasp. It laid upwards on the pink carpet, displaying (Y/n)’s contact information.

**[*HerSmile* contact info has been updated]**

The girl’s face burned. The only thing she could think of was how sweet the tall skeleton was. 

“Thanks, Papy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for waiting so long for this sad-ish chapter!
> 
> I've been busy lately and unmotivated to write but, hopefully, with this chapter out of the way, I can be right back on track:)
> 
> Thank you for your patience and STAY DETERMINED through quarantine!


	5. Goop Dad is Found Out and Papyrus.exe Has Stopped Working

The front door to the cabin opened loudly, but Sans didn’t open his sockets. He was tired. The present for the girl had taken a lot of magic from him. Her smile was worth it though. She didn’t smile enough.

Thumping footsteps on the blue carpet revealed his brother’s presence and Sans’ permanent grin stretched thin.

“Hey, bro. ‘S there updog in here?”

The skeleton could practically hear the other’s socket twitching. 

“SANS, I HAVE ALREADY HEARD THAT JOKE A MILLION TIMES FROM YOU ALREADY!” Papyrus sighed at the chuckle from behind him. “At least would you please stop tainting the human with your horrible jokes!?!”

Sans’ socket opened and he turned to face his brother. (Y/n) stood behind Papyrus, grinning slightly at the sight of the smaller skeleton laying on the green couch. His white eyelights flickered to the girl’s arms. She noticed his gaze and rubbed her scars nervously. Papyrus frowned. “Sans, stop staring. It’s rude. (Y/n) will inform you of her past if she wants to. For now, you should be worried about yourself! Have you eaten  _ anything  _ today?!”

Sans glanced at the blue carpet. “Nah, I just woke up a little bit ago.” 

“BUT I MADE FRENCH TOAST THIS MORNING!!” Papyrus wailed as he stomped his foot.

Sans shrugged. “Red or someone must’ve eaten all of them before I woke up.” Papyrus shook his head in frustration. “WELL THEN! I will make lunch since we have not had food yet and--!” he pointed a finger at his brother, “YOU will get double portions to make up for breakfast!!” The taller skeleton promptly marched to the kitchen, leaving Sans laying on the couch and (Y/n) standing awkwardly.

(Y/n) looked at Sans and then around the living room. It was as quiet as it had been that morning, besides the clanging of pots in the kitchen. 

"Did you jog with Pap and Dr. Alphys this morning?" Sans asked, catching the girl by surprise.

"Y-yes. It was nice, um at least it was when Papyrus actually jogged instead of ran."

The skeleton chuckled, "Yep, that's my bro for you." He turned to lay on his back and faced the ceiling. Placing his hands to cradle the back of his skull, Sans sighed, sounding relaxed. "How'd you like Alphys?"

(Y/n) picked at her jacket.

"She was nice. She seems to like anime a lot and she's really smart. Papyrus is doing a great job of training her," the girl thought aloud.

Sans glanced at her from the corner of his socket.

"And how about Undyne?"

(Y/n) froze as a shiver went down her spine. 

“She was…”

*** **1 hour earlier** ***

_ “NNGGAAHHH!!! YOU MUST BE THE PUNK PAPYRUS IS SO WORRIED ABOUT!!” _

_ (Y/n) flinched at the obnoxious loud voice. She turned to see a fish monster with flaming red hair and an eyepatch walking towards her with a steaming cup. She placed it on the coffee table in the living room gently before turning back to the human. _

_ “Name’s Undyne. Nice to meet ‘ya!” She stuck out a scaly hand.  _

_ (Y/n) looked at it warily. “Do you have any whoopie cushions or buzzers or any other jokes the skeletons use in their handshakes?” _

_ Undyne gave her a disbelieving look. “I’m the Captain of the freakin’ Royal Guard! Why would I waste my time on tasteless pranks like that?!” That didn’t reassure her at all. The girl slowly shook the fish monster’s hand. Undyne’s grip was strong. (Y/n)’s fingers began to turn blue. _

_ “U-um, Undyne, please don’t cut off the human’s circulation. Blood keeps the human body from dying so…” Alphys explained, appearing from behind (Y/n). _

_ She sighed in relief as Undyne let go of her hand and moved to stand by the lizard monster. Undyne smiled softly at Alphys and patted her head. “(Y/n), I know you’ve been acquainted already but I’d like to do it properly. Human. This is my wife, Alphys.” Alphy’s face grew scarlet and she hid her face in her hands. “Undyne, p-p-please don’t embarrass m-me!” _

_ Undyne roared with laughter. _

_ (Y/n) smiled. The couple was adorable. _

_ “NYEH HEH HEH! I SEE YOU HAVE MET THE HUMAN, UNDYNE!” _

_ Papyrus crept up beside (Y/n) looking nervous. He was...sweating? How do skeletons even sweat? Undyne nodded and shot Papyrus a grin. “YEP! The punk has passed the formalities test!” she announced with a pumped fist. The skeleton stiffened. “Please, Undyne...do not test the human. She’s tired as it is right now. Maybe you can test her later?” Papyrus tried to dissuade the fish lady.  _

_ Undyne shook her head. _

_ “NO! SHE MUST BE TESTED AT ONCE!!”  _

_ (Y/n) looked between the two monsters and then at Alphys who grew pale. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” Alphys pushed up her round glasses and stuttered softly, “Th-th-they’re going t-t-to test you on your f-friendship levels…” _

_ “Friendship levels?” _

_ “NOT JUST ANY FRIENDSHIP LEVELS, PUNK!” Undyne’s smile grew sharper and her aura turned frightening. “WE’RE GOING TO SEE IF WE CAN BE... _ **_BESTIES_ ** _!!!” _

***Present***

(Y/n) grew precipitation on her brow.

“...scary,” she finished.

Sans chuckled. “That she is.”

The skeleton studied the girl out of the side of his eye socket. The afternoon sunlight that streamed from the window behind him illuminated the human next to him. She practically glowed. His smile grew soft. (Y/n) looked so relaxed, if not still nervous from thinking about Undyne. He looked back up to the cedar ceiling and sighed.

Sans sat up on the green couch slowly, his spine making little popping noises. Lifting up his arms, he stretched and yawned. Yep, he was still tired. The skeleton scooted to the right side of the couch and patted the cushion next to him. “You must be  _ bone  _ tired from jogging with Pap. Why don’t you take a break from standing and have a sit down? Standing sure is a  _ ton  _ of work,” he rubbed his socket and winked. “A  _ skele-ton _ .”

(Y/n) lightly giggled. Before joining him on the couch, the human heard yelling from the kitchen. “Do you think Papyrus is okay?” she asked worriedly. Sans shrugged. “He’s just cooking. He’s probably punching vegetables or chasing dogs.” 

“Chasing dogs?”

“Don’t worry about it. There’s a couple of dogs and a cat around here that love to annoy skeletons. No one else can seem to see them though, so we all sound crazy to everyone we mention the animals to,” Sans explained. (Y/n) tilted her head. “No one can see Doomfanger?” she questioned, remembering Edge’s cat. Sans’ bone brows rose. “You saw Doomfanger? And Edge didn’t mention anything about no one else seeing them?” She nodded. That was weird. No one could see the annoying pets but them and for Edge to forget about it...

He patted the couch again and smiled. It was nothing...right? “Pap’s alright, (Y/n). Why don’t ‘ya sit down?” The confused look slipped from her face and she nodded. (Y/n) plopped onto the couch and sighed, “I love this couch.” 

“Me too. That’s why I nap on here all the time.”

As she turned to get more comfortable, Sans got a glimpse of a large scar on her back. His eyelights sparked angrily. He knew what certain magic-inflicted wounds looked like...and what they left behind. The scar and the fact that she could see Doomfanger was suspicious. Sockets narrowing, he slowly asked (Y/n), “Hey, I know Papyrus basically said I shouldn’t ask you about your scars but...I just have one question.” The air grew tense around them. (Y/n)’s eyes widened. She began to tremble badly. Sans’ eye sockets blacked out. 

“ **D o y o u k n o w a n y o n e n a m e d D r. G a s t e r ?”**

**‘** *@%#% **_PAIN_ ** _ %@^#*@^’  _ rattled in her head over and over. It wouldn’t stop. She couldn’t breathe. She was drowning in the bright white lights and could feel the sharp phalanges poke at her soul and...

She gasped and shook her head quickly, the flash of memory erasing as soon as it came. “I-I-I-I don’t kn-know anyone n-n-named that! I p-promise!” she yelped out. She didn’t remember what she just thought about, but it scared her. 

The skeleton’s white eyelights reappeared and grew large. “Oh gosh...hey, kid, I’m sorry about that.” He scratched the back of his skull. “It’s just…” he looked over to (Y/n). Tears flowed from her shut eyelids. She had scrunched herself into a little ball, leaning into the arm of the couch. Sans rubbed his face. He had forgotten about her skelephobia. 

Grillby was going to kill him.

He moved over to (Y/n)’s side of the couch and scooped her up in his arms. “Hey...I’m sorry, kiddo...I didn’t mean to scare ‘ya.” Her tears wet his hoodie but he didn’t mind. “Sshh...it’s okay...nothing’s gonna hurt you here. This is a safe space, okay?” Sans’ words seemed to reassure her a bit. Her trembling lessened and her breathing slowed. (Y/n)’s limbs went limp. The monster rubbed her back gently. She sighed shakily and looked up at him.

Her (e/c) eyes sparkled in the sunlight. The slight red on her face made her eyes pop. She was gorgeous. (Y/n) was new and different and she made no sense to Sans. Everything was confusing about this timeline, but he knew one thing for certain.

She would be protected.

Nothing would hurt her as long as Sans had any say in it. Which is why he decided that later on that night he’d talk to Rus and Red about the new development on the  **Dr. Gaster** theory he just came up with.

Man, he  _ hated  _ that guy.

Sans grinned lazily at (Y/n). “Hey,” he said, grabbing her attention. “What I did to scare ‘ya has no excuse. I’m just worried for you, (Y/n).” He booped her nose with the tip of his finger, causing a short, nervous giggle to escape from her lips. Her expression saddened and she smiled at him. “It’s okay. You’re worried, I get that. But...don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” 

Despite what she said, he had to believe she was telling the truth. Her soul was integrity. She was fine. Sans knew that “fine” was a word that had many meanings though. He’d keep an eye socket on her just in case.

“Alrighty then. But if you ever feel uncomfortable, call me, okay?”

(Y/n) nodded. A fleeting look of realization crossed her features as she dug around her sweatpants pockets. A tinge of blue rose to Sans’ cheekbones. “Uh, (Y/n), what are you doin’?” he asked timidly. “Rus asked Dr. Alphys to make me a phone so I have one and I want to give my number to you since you said to call you if I’m uncomfortable but I can’t find it…” She dug deeper into her right pocket. Her pocketed hand brushed against the top of Sans’ shorts-covered pelvis. His blush grew and he coughed, “M-maybe you should stand up and look for it.” 

“Wait...aha! Got it!” 

She pulled her phone from her pocket and Sans sighed in relief. She was so oblivious.

(Y/n) pulled up her contacts on her phone. “Here,” she said handing it to him, “Papyrus set his contact name on my phone so I’m letting everyone set their own names as well.” Sans nodded, bringing out his phone from his jacket pocket to plug in her phone number. He plugged in her phone number and set her name in his contacts. Before he closed his phone, (Y/n) got a glimpse of the screen.

**[*Spectrum* has been added to your contacts]**

(Y/n) tilted her head. “Spectrum?” she mumbled. Sans heard her and chuckled. “Ya know...cause you _ color _ my world with your  _ shining light _ .” She blushed pink and looked away from Sans. She had never heard him flirt before. He quickly set his name in her contacts and handed her phone to her. She blinked.

**[Inigo Bone-toya contact has been updated]**

“Princess Bride references? Really?” He shrugged. “One of the monster ambassadors used to call me that so everyone that has my number has that set as my contact name.” (Y/n) was still confused but she let it go. 

Noticing that she was still in Sans’ lap, she blushed in embarrassment and crawled over to the other side of the couch. He shook his skull. So cute...

“Hey, you wanna watch  _ skele _ -vision until Papyrus gets done making brunch?” 

(Y/n) groaned. “As long as you stop making puns. A few are okay but so many at once is...tiring.” 

“Deal.”

***

Papyrus walked into the kitchen, irritation radiating off his bones. He told Sans to be careful about his magic and he still neglected the proper precautions of magic spending just to… He sighed. He understood that his brother wanted to impress the human, just like the rest of them did. Papyrus just wanted him to be safe. He wanted them all to stay safe, but wasting magic and taking chances is not the way to impress people.

The tall skeleton rummaged through the cupboards, trying to find something to make for lunch. He could make his famous friendship spaghetti, but he wanted to save that for later when he could make it with (Y/n). At the back of the cupboard were two cardboard boxes. Pasta maybe? He reached a skeletal hand in further to retrieve the boxes. 

“Macaroni and cheese? I don’t remember anyone buying these...oh well. It isn’t the type of pasta I usually cook with, but I will make it taste great! For I am the GREAT PAPYRUS!!” He announced to the empty kitchen. 

Papyrus brought out a large pot and filled it halfway with water. He placed it on the stovetop carefully and turned the burner to high heat. “Where’s the salt…?” He stepped back and scanned the kitchen. It wasn’t on the table. It wasn’t on any of the counters, and he never put it in the cupboards. That could only mean...

“That annoying...DOG!”

Papyrus stomped towards the sink and scowled. He stopped in front of the base and put his hands on his hips. “TOBY, IF YOU DON’T GIVE ME MY SALT BACK ON THE COUNT OF THREE, I WILL CATCH YOU AND GIVE YOU TO EDGE TO DISPOSE OF YOU!” There was silence. “FINAL WARNING!!” No noise. “ONE...TWO...!” 

The small door under the sink cracked open and a small white paw shoved a salt container onto the floor. A small bark was heard before the door shut quickly. Papyrus groaned. He HATED that dog!!

He picked up the salt container and shook it lightly. He frowned. They’d have to go shopping for some salt soon. Maybe with a dog-proof cap on it next time? Papyrus shook his head. He’d make a puzzle for the salt container. That would keep the mutt from stealing his salt!

Pap poured a bit of salt into the simmering water to make it boil faster. He then sat down to work out a puzzle to lock out any dogs from stealing his precious cooking salt. A tense feeling crept down his spine, causing him to drop the salt. He shuddered. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it. He put the salt down and checked on the water in the pot. He’d make a dog-proof puzzle for the salt later. 

Seeing that the water was boiling, Papyrus opened the boxes and took out the sauce packets before pouring the hard macaroni in the water. He turned the heat down a bit, Undyne would be furious at the motion but he didn’t want the house to burn down today, and stepped away from the stove. Now he must wait.

Papyrus heard giggling from the living room and sighed. His soul throbbed. He didn’t know why he felt like this. This new feeling of...jealousy? filled his soul. He really did like (Y/n) very much. She was so kind and, surprisingly up to Undyne’s standards, passed the BESTIE test. Papyrus let out a couple of “nyeh’s.” Undyne’s test was just questions about anime. So lame. 

Before they left the fish and lizard monsters’ home, Undyne pulled him aside and talked to him privately. He frowned. His soul throbbed again at the memory of her words.

*** **Earlier** ***

_ “Look, Papyrus, I know this usually only happens in fan fiction and anime but hear me out,” Undyne said, pulling him into the kitchen. He crossed his arms, looking at her nervously. “FINE...what is it?” She sighed and scratched the back of her hair. “You all like the human, right?” _

_ His eyelights flickered to the tiled floor. “I BELIEVE SO.” _

_ “Then why don’t you guys just start a reverse harem?” she suggested. _

_ His jaw dropped. “A...A WHAT?”  _

_ “You know...when a group of guys all date the same girl?” Undyne explained. “Don’t you remember that one anime with all the dudes and that one human chick...” _

_ “BUT THEY WEREN’T ALL IN AN OFFICIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HER, UNDYNE!!” he screeched.  _

_ He wasn’t stupid. Papyrus’ dating manual mentioned polygamous relationships but he usually payed no attention that section of the book. Why would he? He didn’t want multiple partners, only one. Plus, how would that even work? _

_ Undyne rubbed her scaly temples. “Papyrus...does she look happy with everyone?” He thought back to the past couple of days. “Besides being a little skittish, yes. I guess so.” She nodded. “If she dated all of you then you could all take turns with her. She would be happy all around and no one would be jealous if they had equal attention given to them.” Seeing the uncertainty on Papyrus’ face she added, “The other me, Dr. Undyne, not the mean one, has monster history books about some of the first monsters in harems. If you have any questions, you can always ask her.”  _

*** **Present** ***

Papyrus opened his phone and hovered a phalange over Dr. Undyne’s contact name. Should he call and ask? It couldn’t hurt to at least learn more about monster history, right?

A loud sizzling noise caught his attention. 

“OH MY GOD THE WATER!!!” he screamed.

Papyrus grabbed a spatula and a towel quickly and wiped up the overflowing water and stirred the pasta with his other hand. He hoped (Y/n) didn’t mind slightly burnt macaroni. Maybe he could throw in some extra cheese and garlic salt to distract from the burnt taste. The skeleton drained the macaroni and tossed a stick of butter on the noodles, letting it melt into creamy foam. He threw in the rest of the ingredients and stirred until he thought it was perfect. 

As he dished out a few bowls of the cheesy dish, Sans getting a double portion, Papyrus noticed the television was playing Mettaton’s show. He grinned. He could call Dr. Undyne later. Papyrus balanced one bowl on top of his skull and held the other two in his hands. He strolled into the living room.

“FOOD HAS ARRIVED!! NYEH HEH HEH! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE MADE A WONDERFUL AND EASY LUNCH FOR YOU TWO!” He placed a bowl in each of the couch-sitters’ laps. “SANS, YOU BETTER EAT ALL OF IT!!” Sans grinned. “No sweat, bro. I’m so hungry that I can eat until I  _ pasta _ -way.” 

(Y/n) and Papyrus groaned. “I thought we had a deal, Sans!” (Y/n) complained. The short skeleton shoveled the mac n’ cheese in his mouth and shrugged. “That was before the grub came,” he said after he swallowed. Papyrus took his own bowl off his skull and sat in between (Y/n) and his brother. 

As he ate the burnt macaroni, he couldn’t stop thinking about Undyne’s suggestion. Not even Mettaton’s show could distract him from it. He glanced at (Y/n). She smiled brightly and laughed at a comedy gag on the screen. His soul fluttered. His eyelights flickered to his left. Sans was at ease. Papyrus’ white eyelights grew smaller. His brother was...happy. If Papyrus had lips, he would bite them. Seeing his brother laugh along with the human to Mettaton’s show was so abnormal. Sans hated Mettaton. 

Papyrus stood up suddenly. (Y/n) and Sans looked up at him in concern. “Are you okay, Pap?” his brother asked him. “I AM QUITE FINE, SANS...I’m just going to rinse off my bowl.” Sans blinked his sockets. Papyrus didn’t wait for Sans to answer and went to the kitchen. As he rinsed off his bowl, he looked towards the door to the backyard. If there was one person who could help him with his predicament...

The skeleton laid the bowl in the sink and opened the red door. The afternoon sunshine kissed his face and he breathed in the fresh air. Across the flower infested yard, Red was on his knees, planting a couple of wilty looking echoflowers in the moist soil. Papyrus walked hesitantly up to the focused skeleton, trying not to scare him with his sudden appearance. Red's crimson eyelights rose to glance at Papyrus for a second before mumbling, "Heya, Rus. Wassup?" Papyrus sighed. "RED, I AM NOT RUS. I'M PAPYRUS." A look of confusion passed on the short skeleton's face before melting into understanding. "Oh. Sorry, Pap. Jus' ya' didn't have ya' gloves or scarf on, and you're lookin' pretty casual today."

The taller skeleton sighed again, slightly agitated. "I WENT JOGGING THIS MORNING AND I STILL HAVEN'T SHOWERED AND CHANGED, BUT THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT," he lowered his voice, "I have a...question for you, Red. I don't think my brother would understand if I asked him for his opinion for my problem." 

Red's eyelights grew. He patted the rest of the wet soil around the echoflower and stood up, dusting off his shorts. He motioned for Papyrus to follow him. Red led him to a patch of buttercups. No echoflowers could repeat what they were saying here. The skeletons sat down in front of each other on the ground and Red made himself comfortable. "So what'd ya' want to ask?" he inquired with interest.

Papyrus dug his phalanges into the soil, trying to distract himself from his nerves.

"I've been thinking a lot about (Y/n) and how I feel about her lately…" he began. Red's face dropped. Papyrus quickly added, "A-AND EVERYONE ELSE'S FEELINGS FOR HER TOO! I know that you and my brother and Rus and Blueberry like her very much...but I keep having this feeling in my soul...it won't stop... _ fluttering  _ when I see her." 

Red pondered over his words. "And you're jealous of all the attention Dollface gets from us instead a' just you?"

The skeleton's face burned.

"NO! YES! MAYBE! UGH!" He buried his face in his hands. "UNDYNE TOLD ME THAT WE SHOULD JUST START A REVERSE HAREM WITH THE HUMAN AND THAT SOME OF THE FIRST MONSTERS DID IT AND DR. UNDYNE KNOWS MORE ABOUT IT BUT I'M CONFUSED AND JUST WANT (Y/N) AND ALL OF YOU TO BE HAPPY! But I also want to be happy...and...I don't know what to do…" he mumbled the last part quietly.

Red's sockets went black. "Tha'...damn fish lady…" he grumbled. The shorter skeleton lightly pet a buttercup and sighed. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Look, Pap. I know this is...um...bothering ya' but…" He looked more intensely at the flower. "Maybe she has a point…" 

Papyrus' white eyelights grew large. He was being serious?

"RED...I honestly thought you were going to tell me that Undyne's proposition was crazy and stupid!"

Red shook his skull. "Harems weren't taboo 'n mine an' Rus' Undergrounds. It made people stronger, especially 'n my place. Th' fact tha' my bro wasn' 'n one still surprises me."

Papyrus blinked his sockets and looked up at the blue sky nervously. Fluffy white clouds rolled lazily in the atmosphere. He began to count them, calming himself down. One, two...forty-seven. There. He took in a breath and looked back at Red who flashed his sharp teeth at him in understanding. 

"Don't overwhelm yourself, Pap. It's a ton 'a new information for ya'. Plus, ya' shouldn't worry 'bout it. We've only known Doll for a few days now. It'll be a'while before anythin' like relationships pop up with her," he reassured the taller skeleton.

Seeing the still nervous glazed look of his roommate, Red sighed. "How many clouds 'r in th' sky?" he asked softly.

"Now fifty-two," Papyrus replied, not bothering to look up at the sky.

"Take a breath," Red instructed, putting as much comfort into his voice as he could possibly muster. "How many buttercups are in the garden?" Papyrus inhaled slowly and nervously scanned the backyard. "In the whole garden or just this area?" he muttered.

"Th' whole garden."

"Two hundred, thirty-four...the opposite number pattern as the pink fish on Undyne's wallpaper," he stated. Red nodded.

He placed a hand on Papyrus' arm and smiled. 

"You're gettin' better, Pap. I bet Sans is proud of ya'."

Papyrus smiled lightly at the smaller skeleton. "I...still have not told him." 

The Surface had changed all of them once they emerged from the Underground. Some for the better and some…

Some realized how insignificant they were among the number of humans on the planet.

Papyrus never had many friends in the Underground. As much as he would like to call Undyne his friend, she was more of a helpful push to make him feel better about himself. The monster ambassador was what he liked to call a friend, but they were always busy and he had not spoken to them since the emergence. He was...alone. 

None of his counterparts seemed to understand what he was feeling because they had made lots of friends, but Red understood too well what he was feeling. Papyrus often went to Red when he didn't feel like himself or thought he was worrying too much about Sans. Red always knew how to calm him down. It made Papyrus wonder if Edge had ever felt this way when he was younger.

Red did not scold Papyrus for not telling Sans about his condition and smiled instead.

"Heya', jus' take your time, 'kay? Now howsabout you take a shower? Ya' got soil on 'ya face."

Papyrus "nyeh'd" and stood up. "Thank you, Red."

"Anytime, Pap. Don’ let this get ya’ down. T’night’s Takeout Night, remember?” Red added with a wink. Papyrus’ soul soared. Takeout Night  _ was  _ his favorite night besides Spaghetti Night. The wind rustled his white tank top as he gave a little wave to the other skeleton before returning to the log house.

Everything was going to be okay.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One: "My name is Inigo Bone-toya. You killed my brother. Prepare to die." (I couldn't help myself, sorry)
> 
> Two: GOOP DAD HAS BEEN FOUND OUT REPEAT GOOP DAD HAS BEEN FOUND OUT!!!
> 
> Three: Papyrus having minor anxiety attacks and confiding in Red because he doesn't want to worry Sans was the last thing I thought about writing but here I am and I was crying while I wrote because Papyrus is baby and needs all the love in the world.
> 
> Four: Yes. Undyne boldly came out and suggested a harem. I mean, if anime is real...?
> 
> ***Thank you so much for reading!! Sorry about the slow updates!


	6. Takeout Night

A yawn escaped from (Y/n)’s lips as her (e/c) eyes fluttered open. Mettaton’s show was white noise to her ears as she tried to remember where she was. Glancing up at the empty spot between her and Sans on the green couch, she recalled Papyrus getting up to wash off his bowl and not returning. The corners of her lips turned downwards.

“Afternoon, sleepybones,” Sans smirked, how skeletons could even do that honestly it was beginning to weird her out, and poked her shoulder. “How was your nap?”

“Fine,” she began, scanning the empty room. No sign of Papyrus. “Do you know where Pap went? I’m worried about him.” 

Sans’ expression softened at her concern for his brother. “He came back a little while after he left and said he needed to take a shower. He must’ve been in the garden or somethin’ because he had a little dirt on his face.” He shrugged. “But that was a while ago.” The skeleton pulled out his phone from his blue hoodie. “You’ve been asleep for a long time, (Y/n). It’s 5:30.” 

(Y/n)’s eyes widened. Jogging and everything else must have really worn her out. She didn’t even remember falling asleep. 

A sudden bang from the front door slamming open sent a shiver down the human’s spine. Edge trudged into the living room, not bothering to take his boots off, and plopped down on the red couch. He huffed angrily, leaning his skull against the back of the fluffy couch. Sans’ sockets crinkled. “You okay there, Edge?” he asked softly. The tall skeleton monster groaned and shook his head. His red eyelights floated to (Y/n). 

“Have you ever wanted to hurt someone dear to you but you knew you couldn’t because their brother would murder you if you even laid a finger on him?”

“Ummm…” she looked at Sans for help, but he only shrugged. “...No? Why, is there someone you want to hurt, Edge?” she prompted. Another groan escaped through his sharp teeth. He tugged his ragged scarf off, carefully placed it on his lap, and rubbed his neck(?). “Yes, wonderful and caring human. I want to hurt someone.” His eyelights scanned the room before continuing. “I want to punch Blueberry. He’s ALWAYS impulse-buying things. I told him not to do it, but  _ NO ONE  _ ever listens to me! Now our nice and relaxing Takeout Night will be ruined by loud thumping and energetic shouting!!!” Edge growled.

The human and skeleton on the green couch stared at him. Sans’ eyelights vanished, so (Y/n) guessed he knew what Edge was talking about.

“ _ I thought I erased that from all future timelines… _ ” Sans mumbled to himself, slightly shaking in his blue hoodie. 

“Um, what was that Sans?” (Y/n) asked nervously.

He shook his head and grunted out something like needing to warn Red and Rus before vanishing in a puff of blue magic. 

Although it puzzled her to see Sans like that, Edge seemed unphased by the display. He rubbed his temples in circular motions, as if he had a headache. He probably did with whatever had irritated him that Blueberry got. (Y/n) rested her head on the shoulder of the green couch. The two couch dwellers sat in silence. A light pair of footsteps were heard from the floor above which belonged to Papyrus, she guessed. It was weird...the silence. It seemed like that Thursday had gone on forever and so many things happened, but there was one constant. Every time there was a moment of silence, something usually interrupted it.

Like four screaming skeletons popping into the living room out of nowhere.

(Y/n) shrieked at the amount of commotion and Edge groaned again. Could she ever get a break?

While the girl was remembering her abnormally long nap counting as her break for the day and realizing that living with monsters would always bring chaos into everyday life, Edge stood up sharply and glared at the flurry of coats. 

“WHAT IN HELL ARE YOU FUCKS DOING?! I HAVE A FUCKING HEADACHE AND, SO HELP ME, IF THIS IS SOME PETTY FIGHT I WILL DUST YOU!!!”

Red’s sweaty skull poked out of the entanglement of bones and clothing. “Sorry, Boss,” he cried shakily, “we’re gettin’ Blue over ‘ere to take back tha’ stupid game he bought!” Edge nodded in approval. “YOU MAY PROCEED,” Edge spat out before sitting on the couch once more. Red dipped back into the mess and the colors flashed angrier. Orange, blue, cyan, and black spun faster and faster until (Y/n) herself began to have a terrible headache. 

She knew she had to do something. 

(Y/n) stood up and placed her hands on her hips. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Edge glancing at her back. He said nothing. Good. She sighed and looked back at the cartoonish display. 

“C’mon guys, whatever this is i-it can’t be  _ that  _ bad.”

The screaming only got louder.

(Y/n) rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Blueberry, I don’t know what you guys usually do for Takeout Night, but if it is w-what it sounds like, you wanna get tacos w-with me?”

A light blue ball shot out of the torrent of colors and shot itself at the human. (Y/n) toppled back onto the couch, not that she minded for it was really comfy, with the small skeleton on top of her. His bright blue eye lights had turned into huge stars, amplifying his cute appearance. Blueberry’s gloved hands grasped the front of (Y/n)’s tank top and he shouted, “REALLY?! YOU WANNA GET TACOS WITH ME, HUMAN?!!” 

She flinched at his volume but nodded.

“OKAY, (Y/N), I SHALL PUT IT ON THE TAKEOUT ORDER LIST ME AND PAPY MADE EARLIER THIS WEEK!!”

Blueberry shot towards the kitchen. 

Everyone in the room let out a long sigh.

(Y/n) ran a hand through her (h/c) hair and closed her eyes. This was getting out of hand. Sans, Red, and Rus stood panting around a pile of boxes and shopping bags. The three skeletons shared a synchronized glance and nodded. Blue, red, and orange magic flared in the trio’s left eye sockets. They were going to destroy whatever the boundless ball of energy bought. (Y/n) facepalmed. “W-wait, guys!” They all looked at her, confused. 

“What did he buy?”

When no one answered her right away, Edge replied, “It’s a Mettaton and Napstabot version of your human game called  _ Dance Dance Revolution _ , I believe.” (Y/n)’s eyes grew and crinkled at the edges. She laughed heartily. All the skeletons’ bone brows creased in confusion and worry. Had the human finally lost it?

Cheeks flushed, she wiped a fake tear from her eye. “That actually sounds like fun! Why would you try to take it away like that? Has he played it before and s-something happened?” Her genuine curiosity made the jacket-clad skeletons uneasy. Edge barked out, “OF COURSE HE’S NEVER PLAYED IT!...but I can ONLY _ imagine  _ how hyped up he will be when playing it.” The rest of them nodded. 

(Y/n) pointed out, “But then afterwards he’d get all of his energy out and be calm later on. And if someone played with him, he’d have to pace himself to be only the second player’s level.”

Rus glanced at Sans who glanced at Red. They had never thought about that before. In all the other timelines...well, they’ll just keep that a secret.

Rus rubbed his chin and looked down thoughtfully at (Y/n). “Ya’ got a point there, Honey. Are you offering to play with Blueberry after dinner?” The human smiled, soft dimples pressed into her cheeks. “I’d love to!” Sans closed his eye sockets. “Welp, it’s settled then.” He turned to Red and winked. “C’mon, let’s go get the grub.” 

In a puff of blue and red, the smaller skeletons vanished.

The others looked down at the pile of boxes and bags. “So...d-do you guys want to set this up while they’re gone?” (Y/n) suggested. Edge glared at the pile on the carpet. Crossing his arms, he huffed, “I WANT NO PART IN THIS. I WILL NOT CONDONE WASTEFUL MONEY-SPENDING.” The girl moved from the couch, sat down on the plush carpet, and began unpacking the boxes. “I u-understand, Edge, but it’s hard for one person to set this stuff up alone. A-and knowing Mettaton and Napstabot, even the disc for the game has to be complicated.” 

When he wouldn’t budge, she cleared her throat. “You know, this is kinda like solving a puzzle.”

The grumpy skeleton sat up straighter on the red couch. Shoulders back, his crimson eyelights brightened. “Puzzle?”

A crash from the floor above raised (Y/n)’s eyebrows. Several thumping footsteps rushed hurriedly towards the staircase and a loud, “OUCH!” sounded. Papyrus fell down the staircase, landing on the blue-purple carpet upside down. He ‘nyehed’ softly and smiled widely. “DID SOMEONE SAY PUZZLE?” 

A cyan blue ball shot from the kitchen and unraveled the smallest skeleton. Blueberry tugged on his bandana and clapped. “MWEH! PUZZLE?! WHERE?!! LET’S DO IT!!!”

(Y/n) and Rus burst out laughing. The orange-clad skeleton rested his hands on his knees and started shaking. “M-man, Sans an’ Red should’ve been here to see that. They really missed out on a real  _ rib tickler. _ ” The other three skeletons groaned at the pun.

“BROTHER, NO MORE PUNS!” Blueberry pouted. He stomped his foot lightly, the carpet absorbing the sound. “NOW, MISS (Y/N), WHAT IS THE PUZZLE THAT I CAN HELP WITH?!”

“AND ME!!”

“AND ME AS WELL, HUMAN.” 

Rus sat on the red couch. Pulling out a cigarette and a lighter, he lit his smoke and sighed happily. “Oh boy, this should be fun.”

The girl pointed at the pile on the carpet and smiled. “These need to be unpacked and set up so we can play this game after dinner. There should be instructions in each of the boxes and such for each piece that is used.” She glanced at Edge. “There are multiple steps and it can sometimes take hours to set up this type of console. It’s an older model, though, so I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“IT WILL WORK,” Edge, Papyrus, and Blueberry said in sync.

“Great!” (Y/n) exclaimed. “Let’s get started!”

As the skeletons moved to sit next to the human to begin on their project, she smacked her forehead and laughed. “O-oh yeah, do you guys wanna change your contact names in my phone?”

*******

**[TopChefEdge contact has been updated]**

**_[KITTEN <3 contact has been added]_ **

**[NPBT#1FAN contact has been updated]**

**_[STARLIGHT0w0 contact has been added]_ **

**[smokin’hotmom;) contact has been updated]**

**_[Honey~ contact has been added]_ **

*******

Surprisingly, the console and game didn’t take that long to set up. (Y/n) was actually in the way of the skeletons while they solved their “puzzle” and was asked kindly by Edge to move to the side so they could focus better. The human ended up on the red couch next to Rus who, unsurprisingly, started his second death stick. As soon as she sat down, the lazy skeleton plucked her phone from her grasp and set his contact info. Quiet chuckles escaped through his slightly yellowed teeth as he gave it back to her. (Y/n) narrowed her eyes in suspicion but she decided to check the contact names later. Who knows what Rus set his name as.

Once everything was in place and the game was on the start menu, Sans and Red appeared with multiple bags of food. The more energetic skeletons cheered while Rus and Edge just smiled at the appearance of food. Sans and Red distributed the food while Edge grabbed drinks from the kitchen and everyone else sat wherever they felt comfortable in the living room. 

(Y/n) sat in between Papyrus and Blueberry who decided to stay seated on the carpeted floor. Rus stayed in his spot on the red couch, half asleep. Blueberry scolded his brother with threats of taking his special Takeout Night food if he did not wake up. The skeleton sat up a little straighter at the threat and put out his cigarette on the ashtray next to the couch.

Takeout Night was a special night, explained Papyrus, where they ate their favorite “guilt-trip food” in the living room and usually watched their favorite shows. This week was Blueberry’s turn to pick what they watched, usually Napstabot, but since he had bought the “new puzzle game” they would just eat until everyone was finished and then play the game.

(Y/n) was handed a Tacobell bag with a wink from Sans. She didn’t know what he meant by that but whatever it meant made her slightly suspicious. Taking a peek in the greasy bag, she groaned. “Sans, please take all these bells out of my tacos.”

“But you said you wanted Tacobell,” he smart-mouthed while handing Rus a pizza box. Rus laughed at Sans’ prank as he opened the white box. Was that...dessert pizza she smelt? She’d get whatever Rus got next Takeout Night because that smelt  _ heavenly. _

“P-please fix it,” she sighed. 

Sans grinned and snapped his fingers. “Take a look again, kid.”

(Y/n) gave him a scrutinizing look before taking another peek in the brown bag again. Just regular tacos, no bells to be seen. “Thank you, Sans.” He nodded and handed Papyrus his bag. “No prob, kiddo.”

Once everyone had their food and drink and was seated, the girl looked around the room, curious as to what everyone got. Papyrus had gotten a gyro, some sort of Greek sandwich she guessed, and a small bowl of oatmeal with...dinosaur eggs? Noticing her gaze, he swallowed a bite of his gyro and elucidated, “I would just get the sugary oatmeal but it isn’t the healthiest, so I found this nice little Greek cafe on the other side of town. It is completely gourmet and the owners grow and raise everything in their dishes! It is  _ really  _ good, (Y/n)! You should try it sometime!!” After a smile and a promise to try it with him some other day, she missed Papyrus’ pink blush as she scanned the room. 

Edge sat himself next to Rus on the red couch and opened a black, styrofoam box. (Y/n) inhaled the Italian scent deeply. Knowing Edge, whatever he got would have to be baked to perfection. A discarded Olive Garden takeout bag near his red heeled boots alerted her of where he ordered from. Her gaze floated back up to his face. The skeleton shoveled stuffed shells into his sharp jaw like there was no tomorrow. (Y/n) giggled lightly. 

Sans and Red layed on opposite sides of the green couch, legs overlapping in the middle. The skeleton in blue held a burger in a Wendy’s wrapper while the skeleton in black grasped a burger in a Burger King wrapper. Red scowled. “Look, Burger King is betta’ because it tastes like it’s straight off th’ grill. Like Grillby’s, ya’ know?” Sans shook his head and took a large bite of his burger. “Nah, buddy. Wendy’s is superior because it doesn’t taste like smoke. It’s juicy and salty and…” he took his bottle of ketchup and squirted a generous amount onto the top of the sandwich, “it tastes  _ delicious  _ with ketchup.” 

“Well, th’ King tastes’ fuckin’  _ amazing  _ with mustard!” Red glared while squeezing mustard onto his burger.

Blueberry leaned towards (Y/n) and whispered, “They do this every time. They’re not actually fighting, it's more or less just to entertain each other, I think.” Clearing his throat, the small skeleton said, “GIRLS, YOU ARE BOTH PRETTY! PLEASE EAT YOUR GROSS FOOD!!” 

The skeletons on the green couch laughed. Red began to snort. Sans tapped (Y/n)’s shoulder and said, “ _ That, _ my friend, is why we argue.” Red wiped a fake tear. “It’s jus’ so damn adorable an’ funny half th’ time,” he added, wheezing.

Blueberry pouted.

“I AM NOT ADORABLE! I HAVE NO IDEA WHY YOU MUST INSIST THAT CONCEPT EVERY TAKEOUT NIGHT! JUST EAT YOU FOOD SO WE CAN PLAY MY NEW GAME.”

Sans and Red rolled their eyelights and continued their meal.

Blueberry gave a sharp nod of approval before grabbing another taco from the bag in between him and (Y/n). 

Once they were all done eating, Papyrus sat on the couch with Red and Sans while (Y/n) and Blueberry moved the dance mats into place. Blueberry’s cyan eyelights turned to stars as he flipped through the songs. Sans, Red, and Rus held their breath. 

The smallest skeleton stopped his browsing suddenly and turned to (Y/n).

“MY APOLOGIES, STARLIGHT! YOU SHOULD PICK THE FIRST SONG!”

The lazier skeletons exhaled in relief.

“No, Blueberry, this is your game you should...wait, d-did you call me ‘starlight’?” she tilted her head in confusion.

He wrung his gloved hands and ‘mweh’d’ nervously. “Y-yeah...is that bad?” he asked softly. (Y/n) shook her head. “N-no, it’s fine.”

She looked at the screen and decided to break up the tension by starting the game.  _ Hmmm...it would have to be a slow one to get a hang of the controls but catchy to keep the beat to…  _ A few songs flashed by before she saw it.  _ Of course they would cover that.  _ (Y/n) set bothe of their difficulties to easy before clicking start. 

“ _ VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR _ ?”

(Y/n) laughed and prepared herself. “Trust me.”

A funky tune came from the TV speakers and all of the skeletons perked up. What was this?

“Here we go,” (Y/n) said as she stepped on the first few arrows that popped up on the screen.

“ _ They took the credit for your second symphony _

_ Rewritten by machine on new technology _

_ And now I understand the problems you can see _

_ Oh, a, oh _

_ I met your children _

_ Oh a oh _

_ What did you tell them? _ ”

Blueberry was getting the hang of the beat and stepped on the arrows insync with the game. (Y/n) missed a few but once the chorus started, she knew she could do it.

“ _ Video killed the radio star _

_ Video killed the radio star _

_ Pictures came and broke your heart _

_ Oh, a, a, a, oh _ ”

“THIS IS A WEIRD YET ROBOT-LIKE SONG! IT IS VERY CATCHY, (Y/N)!!”

She nodded, trying not to break her concentration. She just got a fifty combo and didn’t want to lose her streak. 

“ _ And now we meet in an abandoned studio (ohh) _

_ We hear the playback and it seems so long ago _

_ And you remember the jingles used to go (ahh) _

_ Oh, a, oh _

_ You were the first one _

_ Oh, a, oh _

_ You were the last one _ ”

“No!!” (Y/n) yelled as she lost her streak at seventy-five. She took a glance at Blueberry’s score so far. He had a one hundred fourteen combo.

“ _ Video killed the radio star _

_ Video killed the radio star _

_ In my mind and in my car _

_ We can't rewind we've gone too far _

_ Oh, a, a, a, oh _

_ Oh, a, a, a, oh _ ”

Once the song was finished, (Y/n) stepped back. That, even for a first song, was tiring. Blueberry jumped up and down in glee. “LOOK, BROTHER! I GOT A PERFECT SCORE!!” (Y/n) fell back on the red couch in between Rus and Edge. Edge handed her a bottle of water. She thanked him and took a large gulp. 

Papyrus stood up from the green couch and said, “If you don’t mind, (Y/n), I’d like to take your place this round and play against Blueberry.” She waved at him to continue.

Rus chuckled.

“Honey, you look worn out.”

Sans took a swig from his ketchup bottle. “She went jogging with Pap.”

The sound of the next song selected filled the room and everyone snapped their attention to the two skeletons playing. Papyrus and Blueberry both set their difficulty to “challenge” this round. The first few notes of the new song were recognizable. It was a Mettaton exclusive song that had been released in the Underground. By now, most humans knew the song simply because they heard so many monsters humming it the first few months of them being on the Surface. (Y/n) remembered the song’s original performance described as complicated, so she was a little concerned that the skeletons wouldn’t be able to keep up on “challenge” mode.

“ _ Darling, I can show you where my love hides _

_ It's a heartbeat _

_ On a hard drive _

_ Yeah, I'm dancing with your soul in my sights _

_ It's a showdown _

_ In the spotlight _

_ Honey, glamour's got me out of my mind _

_ Like a kill switch _

_ On my backside _

_ And the camera's got you frozen in time _

_ Like a save state _

_ In a game file _ ”

They both had perfect combos...how the f…?

“ _ I'm dreaming like no Dreemurr ever could _

_ There's my name! Up in lights! _

_ Fifteen minutes won't suffice, baby! _

_ I'm sorry but it's for the greater good _

_ Raise the stakes! Pick a fight! _

_ And these ratings might ignite, baby! _ ”

Papyrus and Blueberry both had a perfect combo of one hundred twelve. The loudest skeletons were both so quiet. Neither of them made a sound except for their bare feet thumping on the soft mats. It was impressive.

“ _ You got a lot of nerve my friend _

_ What day and age you think we're living in? _

_ You've got a lot to learn human _

_ Did you really think the doc was in?” _

Edge nudged (Y/n) to get her attention and whispered, “When I was setting everything up, I noticed there was a hidden mode in the style section. I am going to use it next turn if Papyrus will let me take his place.” She pulled her eyes from the dancing skeletons and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to punch Blueberry earlier for buying this game and now you want to play it?” she whispered back. His crimson eyelights twinkled. “Yes, but now I can show him who is really superior to puzzles!”

“ _ Electric personality _

_ Persona fabulosity _

_ With romance, bloodshed, and intrigue! _

_ Give the people what they need! _

_ A star! For humanity! _

_ My face! on a million screens! _

_ Now turn your heel but don't you flee _

_ Who needs arms with legs like these? _

_ Get a load of my sequins _

_ Strut my stuff, you know I'm glammorin' _

_ You're gonna go to the dungeon _

_ Do you really think that I won't win? _ ”

Blueberry stepped on the wrong arrow and lost his combo. He huffed but didn’t complain. Papyrus still kept his combo, never missing a step. Two hundred thirteen.

“I don’t think it’s Blueberry you should be competing with,” (Y/n) said, nodding in the taller skeleton’s direction. 

Edge stroked his chin and observed Papyrus thoughtfully.

“You have an excellent point. I will ask Blueberry if I can take his place next turn.”

“ _ Darling I can show you where my love hides _

_ It's a heart beat _

_ On a hard drive _

_ Yeah I'm dancing with your soul in my sights _

_ It's a showdown _

_ In the spotlight _

_ Honey glamour's got me out of my mind _

_ Like a kill switch _

_ On my backside _

_ And the cameras got you frozen in time _

_ Like a save state _

_ In a game file _

_ It's a heart beat _

_ On a hard drive _

_ It's a heart beat _

_ On a hard drive _

_ It's a heart beat _

_ On a hard drive _

_ It's a heart beat _

_ On a hard drive _ ”

The song ended and Papyrus turned to his audience and bowed. He had a complete two hundred fifty step score. Sans and Red clapped lazily to congratulate him. 

Rus got up and rubbed the top of his brother’s skull. “Good job, lil’ bro.” Blueberry pouted. “BUT I DIDN’T WIN! PAPYRUS DID!!” (Y/n) waved to grab Blueberry’s attention. “It’s not a winning game. It’s all about having fun with the people you love. And I thought you were pretty cool.” The smaller skeleton’s face burned a light blue. “AH...WELL...THANK YOU, STARLIGHT!” 

Edge pulled his heeled boots off and placed them next to the couch. He cracked his knuckles and asked, “Blueberry, may I take your place this turn to play with Papyrus?” 

“ONLY IF I CAN TAKE YOUR SEAT NEXT TO (Y/N)!”

Edge glanced back and forth from the human to the large TV. He was actually conflicted about this?

“Heya’, Boss, I betcha’ can’t beat Paps over there in tha’ game,” Red steered his brother back to why he wanted to play. The tall skeleton stood up and marched to the game mat. He was filled with...something other than determination. Once he stood on the mat, he flew through the settings and set random numbers and letters into both players’ coding. (Y/n) grew dizzy. She didn’t even know you could do that with  _ Dance Dance Revolution _ . Oh wait. This was the Mettaton and Napstabot version. Everything  _ mus _ t be complicated.

Blueberry and Rus came over and sat on either side of you. While Edge was still messing with the settings, Rus asked Papyrus, “Hey, Pap, did you get any of the baklava from that cafe?” Papyrus frowned. “EVEN IF I HAD ORDERED SOME I WOULDN’T TELL YOU.” Rus sighed. “You know I’m attracted to honey, and that dessert…” he snapped and a small white container covered in orange magic floated in front of his face, “always seems to be just under my nose.” 

Papyrus groaned. “YOU DON’T HAVE A NOSE, RUS.”

“Yeah, but I can still smell that sugary, honey sweetness~”

Papyrus rolled his eyelights. “FINE...you can have  _ SOME _ \--not  _ all _ of it.”

Rus smirked and opened the styrofoam box. A sickly sweet smell wafted in the air. It made (Y/n)’s mouth water. “Wanna bite?” he asked, offering the box to her. (Y/n) nodded quickly and took a small piece. He was right. It was sugary and sweet and had a slight honey undertone to it. Now she  _ really  _ was going to go with Papyrus to this cafe at some point. Soon. Very, very soon. 

The sound of the next song starting rang through the cozy room. Papyrus stood up straight as the outlines for the arrows popped up. Not only were the arrows falling down the screen instead of up and they faded so you couldn’t exactly see them as you matched them up with the outlines, they were in the shape of hearts?

“ _ They say he likes a good time _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He comes alive at midnight _

_ (Every night) _

_ My mama doesn't trust him _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He's only here for one thing _

_ But (so am I) _

_ Yeah _

_ A little bit older _

_ A black leather jacket _

_ A bad reputation _

_ Insatiable habits _

_ He was onto me, one look and I couldn't breathe _

_ Yeah, I said, "If you kiss me _

_ I might let it happen" _ ”

(Y/n) could not believe her eyes. Edge had picked this song out?

“ _ I swear on my life that I've been a good girl _

_ Tonight, I don't wanna be her _

_ They say he likes a good time _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He comes alive at midnight _

_ (Every night) _

_ My mama doesn't trust him _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He's only here for one thing (let's go) _

_ But (so am I) _ ”

Edge not only hit every step perfectly, he also swayed his hips along with the rhythm. Papyrus didn’t look like he was struggling either. Red and Sans cheered on their brothers. They looked very proud. Both dancing skeletons puffed out their chests and continued playing.

“ _ Look, I'm the type to make her turn on her daddy _

_ DaBaby make her forget what she learned from her daddy _

_ I don't be trippin on lil' shawty, I let her do whatever she please _

_ I don't be kissin' on lil' shawty, she don't be kissin' on me either _

_ She came with you and then left with me, I went up a point, let's call it even (yeah) _

_ Don't like the car she in, gonna end up buying her a new Beamer (let's go) _

_ That girl know what she want, she make me take it off when she see me (let's go) _

_ She say I make her wet whenever my face pop up on TV _

_ I had to say, "No disrespect, gotta do it safe or you can keep it" _

_ Pop star, I'm fresh up out the trap and I'm goin' Bieber _

_ She know I'm a call away, she can drop a pin and I come meet her _

_ Stand next to me, you gon' end up catchin' a fever (yeah, yeah, yeah) _

_ I'm hot (yeah) _ ”

Papyrus let out a triumphant “nyeh” and did something that shocked everyone.

He turned towards (Y/n), facing  _ away _ from the screen, and continued playing. Not missing a single step. Edge was so shocked that he missed a whole line of arrows. Papyrus winked at (Y/n). He saw his brother do it so many times and didn’t fail to notice the way it made the human blush. The light pink that graced (Y/n)’s cheeks told him he was successful.

He turned back around and faced the screen again.

This was his element. It was just patterns and numbers. Edge had tried to throw him off guard but there was a reason why Edge was better at cooking and Papyrus was better at puzzles. He knew about the settings and overhead Edge mumble to himself about it. It made him feel confident. He liked this game. 

“ _ I swear on my life that I've been a good girl (good girl, good girl) _

_ Tonight, I don't want to be her _

_ They say he likes a good time _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He comes alive at midnight (he comes alive, oh every night) _

_ (Every night) _

_ My mama doesn't trust him _

_ (My, oh my) _

_ He's only here for one thing _

_ But (so am I) _ ”

The song ended and Edge looked utterly defeated. Red laughed. “I bet tha’ you couldn’t, bro. Pap is a whizz at numbers ya’ know.” Papyrus scratched the back of his skull. “I MAY BE GOOD AT NUMBERS, RED, BUT YOUR BROTHER IS AN EXCELLENT DANCER!”

(Y/n) chuckled. “Yeah, Edge, I didn’t know you liked songs like  _ that _ .” 

The skeleton’s skull erupted in red magic. 

“I--NO, I--I WOULD _ NEVER _ ! IT WAS JUST---” Edge sputtered. 

“It’s fine, I’m just teasing you,” the girl said as she got up from her seat and stood next to him. “You looked like you were having fun. Plus, we all have our guilty pleasures I bet. S-so don’t be embarrassed, okay?”

His blush darkened. Edge quickly swiveled his head away from her.

“O-OKAY...kitten,” he mumbled the last part. (Y/n) smiled as Edge turned to fix the settings back to normal.

Papyrus stood back and watched the exchange. He really needed to talk to Dr. Undyne if he was going to have a chance with (Y/n). Everyone’s souls were screaming how much they liked her. Papyrus glanced at his brother. He knew that Sans could hear it too. 

Sans looked normal, but he winced every so often. Red looked a little more glum than usual. Papyrus frowned. Today was Takeout Night! Only fun things! No bad stuff!

Papyrus hooked his arm with Edge’s and led him to the couch with Sans and Red.

“RED! YOU MUST PLAY WITH (Y/N)! IT IS GETTING LATE AND THIS WILL BE OUR LAST SONG FOR THE NIGHT!”

Red looked startled. His red eyelights grew. “I-I can’t do tha’, Pap. I’m no dancer.” Papyrus huffed and pulled the sharp-toothed skeleton off the green couch. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO DANCE. IT’S JUST ARROWS. IT’S LIKE SPARRING WITH UNDYNE!” He lowered his voice, “Everyone today has hung out with bella but you, so please have fun, Red.” 

Sweat dripped down the skeleton’s skull. He nodded and took his place on his mat next to (Y/n). She smiled. “You can pick the next song. I put it on easy since we’re not competing against each other like the others were.” Red thanked her, grateful that she knew he wasn’t up for something complicated.

He pressed the down arrow to scroll through the songs. He normally would pick something heavy metal but honestly it was too late at night for that. Once he got to bed, he knew he was going to crash.

Red hovered over a title that he recognized and grinned.

He selected it and the song began to play.

“ _ I get up, I get down and I'm jumpin' around _

_ And the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now _

_ Been a hell of a ride but I'm thinkin' it's time to grow _ ”

“Bang! 

“Bang!” 

“Bang!” echoed Sans, Rus, and Edge. 

“ _ So I got an apartment across from the park _

_ Put quinoa in my fridge, still I'm not feelin' grown _

_ Been a hell of a ride but I'm thinkin' it's time to go _

_ (Bang! Bang! bang!) _

_ (Here we go) _

_ So put your best face on, everybody _

_ Pretend you know this song, everybody _

_ Come hang _

_ Let's go out with a bang _

_ (Bang! Bang! bang!) _

_ I'm way too young to lie here forever _

_ I'm way too old to try so whatever _

_ Come hang _

_ Let's go out with a bang _

_ (Bang! Bang! bang!)” _

Everyone sang along to the song except for (Y/n), who was concentrating on not losing her twenty-five combo, and Blueberry, who had no idea what this song was. Red’s golden tooth flashed as he began to have fun. 

“ _ Feel like I'm gonna puke 'cause my taxes are due _

_ Do my password begin with a one or a two? _

_ Been a hell of a ride but I'm thinkin' it's time to grow _

_ (Bang! Bang! bang!) _

_ (Metronome) _

_ Man, I'm up to something, ooh-dee-la-dee-doh _

_ Thank you all for comin', I hope you like the show _

_ 'Cause it's on a budget, so ooh-dee-la-dee-doh _

_ Yeah, come on here we go, yeah, come on (here we go) _ ”

Red and (Y/n) didn’t hit every arrow. They just simply enjoyed themselves. It was a nice night. Everyone was getting along so well. The atmosphere was so warm and fuzzy. (Y/n)’s stomach was full and her soul was light. In her heart and soul, she knew this was where she was supposed to be.

“ _ Let's go out with a bang _

_ (Bang! Bang! bang!) _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs:
> 
> "Video Killed the Radio Star" -The Buggles  
> "Hard Drive" -Griffinilla  
> "My Oh My" -Camila Cabello  
> "Bang!" -AJR
> 
> I used to play DDR Supernova aalll the time until my PS2 broke and my disc was scratched to nothing. Man I miss that game.
> 
> Sorry about the weird updates! I made this chapter a little longer than normal to make it up to you lovelies<3
> 
> Thank you for reading! Feedback is much appreciated!


	7. NOW IT BEGINS

Red woke up with a searing pain in his skull the next morning. “Hrng! What th’ fuck…?” Rubbing his skull, he looked around his room. It was empty besides his bed and gardening supplies. He sighed, pulling up his crimson covers. His red eyelights dimmed in the dark. 

The dream he dreamt last night wasn’t pretty. His nightmares always bothered him but this one…

Red glared at his curled up fists.

~~ He couldn’t save her… ~~

Getting out of bed, the skeleton pulled on a pair of shorts and shortcutted to Sans’ door. He gave the door a few knocks and waited. Colorful magic spilt from underneath the wooden door and drifted over the carpet before dissipating. When he heard no response, Red growled and slammed his fist against the door harshly.

“Sans, ya’ better get th’ fuck up b’fore I  _ make  _ ya’ get th’ fuck up!”

A few thuds were heard from the inside of the room before a shirtless Sans cracked the door open. The dark circles under his sockets were deeper, and a few blue-tinted tears stained his cheeks. Red took a step back. “Wha...what’s wrong, Sans?” he asked softly. Sans opened the door wider and motioned for the other to come in. 

Sans’ room looked more of a wreck than usual. The magic trash-nado was gone; its former contents spread across the room. Crumpled papers and socks covered the blue carpet. He didn’t even have the bundled up sheet ball on his bed. 

Sans sat on the bare mattress and patted a spot next to him for Red to sit down. 

“Why’d you wake me up, Red?” the tired skeleton asked, rubbing his sockets.

Red sat down and fiddled with his black shorts. He felt like shit now for waking Sans. “I...had a nightmare...about Dollface...and  _ him _ .” 

The other tensed and his breath hitched. He looked at Red, white eyelights extinguished. “You...saw him...and her?” Sans began to shake. “What happened, Red?”

Crimson eyelights grew and wavered. “M-maybe I should’ve gone t’ Rus…” he trailed off.

“NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! I  **NEED** TO KNOW!!” Sans yelled, grabbing the front of Red’s shirt. Blue tears rolled down his face. “Please...please just tell me…”

Red was frozen. He couldn’t move his jaw. It shocked him to see Sans like this. Sans knew everything. He was the reason they all got along. He was their solid guy but…

What had happened?

His eyelights turned to pinpricks as his mind raced with possibilities and stopped on one that made complete sense.

“Tha’ bastard,” he grumbled, ripping his gaze from his counterpart to the floor, “if I eva’ see tha’ sonofabitch again, I’ll rip his fuckin’ smile t’ shreds.” He sighed and looked back up to Sans. “Tha’ scar on (Y/n)’s back is from him, isn’t it?” Sans nodded, releasing his grip on Red and slumping back against the wall and into the mattress. He rubbed the back of his spine, feeling a thin edge where his scar was. They all had one. (Y/n)’s had to be from him too. ”I think so...she doesn’t remember anything before monsters resurfaced.”

Red growled. “Ya’ should’ve told us sooner, Sans!”

A ‘pop’ and a puff of orange magic filled the room before a sleepless looking Rus appeared in front of them. “You two are too loud. I bet the whole floor is up by now if they aren’t already,” he said exasperatedly, pulling a cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lighting it. He tucked the lighter into his orange plaid pajama pants and continued, “So,  **Gaster** is back in town. Nyeh, I thought I’d never see him again; however, it seems he really was the one pulling all the strings in the first place.”

Sans grit his teeth. “I was going to tell you guys tonight, but Blueberry bought that game and got everyone in a good mood. I was going to tell you guys later.” His white eyelights returned and he gazed at Rus. “Have you been having strange nightmares too?” 

The tall skeleton nodded. “I don’t often like reminders of us being split open and tested on but when I see it happen to Honey…” All the skeletons paled. 

“Let’s not talk ‘bout tha’,” Red coughed. “I don’t wanna think about Doll like tha’ right now.”

The other two nodded and sighed.

“So what are we going to do?” Rus asked, exhaling smoke from his nose pore. Sans shrugged. “There’s nothing really  _ to  _ do. This hasn’t happened before.  _ (Y/n) _ hasn’t happened before. We have no idea what to do. I guess...we just roll with it for now.” 

They all fell silent. Crickets chirped outside Sans’ window and birds began to softly chirp their morning songs. Light crept through blue curtains and rested on the carpeted floor. Rus finished his cigarette and teleported it away somewhere. Tapping his bunny slippered feet, he mumbled, “Today is a new day.” The other skeletons looked up at him in interest.

“What d’ya mean, Rus?” Red asked.

The taller skeleton gestured around the room. “This is a brand new timeline with a new character who has influenced our lives.” He turned towards the door and scratched his skull. “I think Honey was made for us. As much as we hate Gaster, what if  _ she _ is the one to save us from this hell-hole? What if this is the _ last _ timeline? This could be our only chance at  _ living _ .” 

Red’s eyelights widened. Could they really be that lucky?

Sans stood up from his mattress and crossed his arms. 

“Do you really believe that?”

Rus dug his hands in his hoodie. “It’s a plausible theory, Sans. Gaster has done some shit to us that will never be forgiven. Even if he experimented on (Y/n), _ that _ will  _ especially _ not be forgiven. BUT if she is the stop to all the resets, I will welcome the idea with open arms.” 

Sans sighed and glanced down at Red. 

“What do you think, Red?”

Red began to sweat. “W-well, I agree with Rus, obviously. Who wouldn’t afta’ tha’ speech?” 

“But?” Sans prompted.

_ “I think Honey was made for us…” _

“There’s...another angle I’d like t’talk about, now tha’ it’s just us ‘ere.” He fidgeted with his phalanges. 

_ “UNDYNE TOLD ME THAT WE SHOULD JUST START A REVERSE HAREM WITH THE HUMAN AND THAT SOME OF THE FIRST MONSTERS DID IT AND DR. UNDYNE KNOWS MORE ABOUT IT BUT I'M CONFUSED AND JUST WANT (Y/N) AND ALL OF YOU TO BE HAPPY! But I also want to be happy...and...I don't know what to do…” _

“Me an’ Pap were talkin’, an’ he mentioned a...suggestion a friend of his gave him.”

Sans narrowed his sockets. “What kind of suggestion would someone give my bro about Spectrum?”

Red and Rus raised a bone brow at the nickname but didn’t mention it.

“Rus,” Red turned to the orange clad skeleton, “you like (Y/n), right?” Rus nodded. “Of course I like Honey.” 

“And from last night’s blatant confession, we all know Blueberry likes her. Boss likes her too; he doesn’t just cook like tha’ for  _ anyone _ .” He turned to Sans. “You like Doll, too. Though I can tell you’re tryin’ t’ hide it.” 

Sans opened his mouth to argue. Red flashed his golden tooth and barked, “Lemme finish b’fore you start your yappin’!” Sans closed his mouth.

“I liked Sweetheart as soon as I saw her. An’ ya’ know I don’t like humans too much. She’s everythin’ I could eva’ dream for. I know Paps could say the same. He loves her.” 

He watched as Sans’ face fell. Sans lowered his arms and looked towards the wall, in the direction of Papyrus’ room. “He...loves (Y/n)? And he didn’t tell me?” Sans mumbled quietly.

Rus turned to Red and asked, “So what was Papyrus’ friend’s suggestion?”

Red hesitated. Rus seemed to catch on quick. “It was Undyne, wasn’t it?” Red nodded. Sans seemed to wake up from his daze. “Undyne? What would Undyne suggest?” he asked in confusion.

“A reverse harem,” the other two skeletons said insync. 

Sans blinked and blushed blue. “But...how…?”

“Anime,” they both said insync once more.

“Jeez, guys, stop doing that. It’s creepy,” Sans said, fighting off his blush. “Anyway, how would that even work?”

Red facepalmed. He should’ve known if Papyrus didn’t know then Sans wouldn’t know about monster harems either.

“Monster harems are common in our worlds,” Rus picked up the topic from where Red left off. Red was grateful. Sans listened to Rus more than Red, so he’d take the information better from him. “They help others grow stronger. Red’s world’s dog monster pack is in a harem I believe.” He paused and Red gave him an affirmative nod. “Tha’s why they’re in th’ Royal Guard. They’re stronger together.”

“I think Undyne suggested it because my doc’ gave her some books on it and Pap told her about how we all like (Y/n), I think,” Rus added, Red nodding along.

Sans rubbed his bare shoulder. 

“This is crazy,” he said under his breath. 

“And our lives aren’t crazy already?” Rus asked genuinely.

“True.”

Down the hallway, a door opened, and the trio stood still. Footsteps padded down the carpeted hallway until they stopped at Sans' door. A light knock sounded. "Who's there?" Sans called out softly.

A sigh was heard from the other side of the door.

"Canoe."

Red raised a bone brow. Sans asked confusedly, "Canoe who?"

"Canoe let me in, brother? I heard you talking about me through the wall."

Rus and Red chuckled as Sans opened the door to reveal Papyrus. He wore race car pajamas and held a bunny plushie. 

"You really need to keep it down, guys. It's a miracle Blueberry or Edge didn't wake up. You know how they get," Papyrus scolded, walking into the room. Sans closed the door and the other two stopped chuckling. If Edge and Blueberry woke up from them, they'd all be dust.

“So,” Papyrus began, crossing his arms, “first thing, Red, I told you in confidence about my problem.” Red shrunk under his gaze. Yep, he defininently was a version of Edge. “But, I appreciate that you tried explaining it to my brother for me before I made a fool out of myself asking Doctor Undyne for help.” He turned to Rus. “I’m sure you understand.” Rus nodded.

“Doc is pretty good when it comes to monster history, but…” he flinched. “She’ll stop at nothing to make anime real.”

Papyrus sighed in relief. Looking down at his brother, he rubbed the back of his skull.

“Um...Sans…brother, I...have feelings for (Y/n).”

When no one said anything else, Papyrus continued, “A-and like I told Red, I know that everyone has feelings for the human, so it makes sense for everyone to be happy! We must work together! That’s how the barriers broke, right? Team work! Remember how happy everyone was last night? Even Edge wore a smile! He’s been kinder since (Y/n) came! He-he even _ danced _ for her! So please, brother, consider doing this p-poly relationship!”

The three skeletons stared at the blushing Papyrus. He looked very confident in that moment. Sans had never seen his brother so genuinely passionate about something he could accomplish. 

Red grinned and whispered under his breath, “ _ Good job, Pap… _ ”

Sans stepped close to Papyrus. He looked up at his brother and smiled widely.

“You’re so cool, bro.”

Papyrus beamed and scooped his brother in his arms in a joyous embrace.

“So you’ll think about it?!”

Sans nodded. “If ya’ put me down, bro, I’ll give a suggestion.”

Papyrus set his brother down on the messy, blue carpeted floor. Sans dusted off his shorts and stuffed his hands in the pockets. “I know that we all like (Y/n), but suggesting a harem is too early. There are six of us, so why not we each get a day with (Y/n) starting today for the next six days. On the seventh day, if it appears she likes us back, we suggest the harem. Sounds good to you guys?”

All the skeletons nodded. 

“I’ll talk to my bro and Edge about it after this,” Rus said, earning a nod from Sans.

“Good.”

Red raised his hand sarcastically, as if he was asking permission to speak. He couldn’t help it; Sans was sounding like a teacher giving out an assignment.

“Yes, Red?”

“We should make a schedule for who gets what day with Doll. I know Blueberry will fight to get her everyday if we don’t have one,” he suggested, picking at his teeth. Papyrus and Rus nodded in agreement.

“Okay then. Red, you have today. Blueberry has tomorrow so he doesn’t pitch a fit. Sunday is Edge and Monday is Rus. I’ll take Tuesday. Pap, you take Wednesday,” he smiled at his brother. “Save the best for last, right?” 

Papyrus blushed furiously and coughed, “I NEED. TO USE. THE RESTROOM!” before rushing out of the room.

Red gulped after Pap left and he began to shake. 

“W-why am I with Doll t’day?” he asked nervously. 

Sans sighed. “Grillby’s is closed on Friday’s, Red. She’s not working today. And since the rest of us are working today, you’re the only one free to spend time with her.” 

Red blushed a deep crimson. 

“Oh…”

Rus patted the blushing skeleton on the back and walked out the door saying, “I’ll tell the others.”

Sans sat back down on his mattress and sighed. He turned to Red and smiled. “Hey, ya’ better get going. You’ve got a date to plan with Spectrum.” 

Red nodded quickly and stepped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. His red eyelights flitted towards (Y/n)’s door at the end of the hallway. A soft blue and yellow glow came from underneath her door. He inhaled slowly and smiled, an idea popping into his head. 

He knew exactly where he’d take her.

***

**[Entry number ~~~$!~~ ]**

**[This is only the second day of my absence and everything is going according to plan]**

**[Mmm…]**

**[It truly is excellent]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy frick frack it's all coming together now~
> 
> It hurts to write at least 4,000 words per chapter so I'm just going to write how I feel? Is that okay?
> 
> But the upcoming chapters will probably hit that 4,000 word count since it's per day they have (Y/n) *shrugs*
> 
> I try 0w0
> 
> Thank you for reading! Remember, feedback is always appreciative!


	8. A Journey of Botanical Promises

Hot. All she could think about was the immense heat when she stepped outside the house that morning. (Y/n) groaned, “I _just_ wanted to take a walk. Now it’s too hot to even think about doing that.” It was going to be a long day. She had already had a rough morning from the yelling down the hallway, whatever that was about. At least she had another day off. Maybe she could just chill instead. The girl turned right back around to walk back into the air conditioned house. 

“Heya’, sweetheart.”

The sudden bass of Red’s voice caused (Y/n) to yelp, jumping from the porch straight into the living room. She closed the front door behind her and sighed. The skeleton wasn’t in the living room when she first came down the stairs, but there he was, chuckling away as he wiped a tear from his socket. “Heh, ya’ should’ve seen how ya’ looked when ya’ heard my voice! Twas priceless.”

She placed a hand to her chest, fiddling with her blue necklace to calm her beating heart. 

“Y-you can’t just sneak up on me like that, Red.”

The skeleton shrugged and plopped down on the red couch. “Why not?” 

“Because some people want to keep their heart in their chest in the morning.” (Y/n) moved to lay on the green couch, propping her feet up on the shoulder of the furniture towards Red. He laughed and poked her sandaled feet. “I s’pose. What are your plans f’ today, doll? If ya’ lay on th’ couch like this all day, ya might get as lazy as me.”

(Y/n) tapped her feet against Red’s skull and scoffed, “W-well, what if I want to be lazy today? It’s too hot to do anything and yesterday wore me out.”

A grin, not unlike the Cheshire cat, stretched across the skeleton’s skull. His golden tooth glinted in the morning light from the window. (Y/n) gulped. What was she about to get herself into?

“It’s too hot t’ do anythin’? Sweetheart, what if I told you tha’ there’s a place you can get cool tha’ only my wonderful self can take ya’?”

(Y/n) leaned her head forward in interest. Quirking a brow, she asked, “Where?” Red smirked, leaning away from the human and sat more comfortably into the red couch. “Eh, now tha’ I think about it, ya’ prolly don’ wanna go there.” He closed his sockets and sighed. “Nope, a doll like ya’self would _never_ want t’ go to a nice _cool_ place with _immense shade_ and _cold_ water…”

When he reopened his sockets, (Y/n) had disappeared from the living room.

“Wha’ the…” he began to mumble before he heard hurried footsteps upstairs. A few minutes later, (Y/n) emerged from the stairs and stood in front of Red. 

His crimson eyelights filled his sockets and a light blush spread across his cheeks and nasal cavity. (Y/n) wore a (f/c) cute bathing suit, picked out by Dr. Undyne of course, that framed her body beautifully. Over her shoulder, she held her backpack and in her other hand she grasped a crocheted cover up for her body. Red’s nose cavity began to leak blood. He turned his head quickly and wiped the blood on the edge of his black sleeve.

“I-I-I see tha’ you’re eaga’ to go, then…” he mumbled, slowly turning to face her again.

(Y/n) nodded quickly. “Cold and water good; hot and sun bad.”

Red rubbed the top of his skull. Maybe he should have thought his plan through before setting everything up. There were a few things he didn’t count on.

One of them being (Y/n) looking _hot_ , eh pun intended, in that swimsuit of hers.

“Uh, as fucking adorable as ya’ are, doll, we have t’ go t’ the monster embassy first.”

She let out a small “oh” before shrugging her bag off her shoulder. The black pack hit the ground with a padded thud. Unzipping it, (Y/n) pulled out a pair of shorts and a red shirt. Red turned his skull away from her again as she pulled the clothing over her swimsuit. When she was finished, she chuckled.

“Red, c’mon! Swimming awaits!” (Y/n) exclaimed as she bounced on her heels.

“Ya’ keep up that energy an’ you’ll turn into Blueberry.”

Her impatience began to bleed through her excited demeanor. Grabbing the skeleton’s arm, she hoisted him off the couch and began to drag him out the door.

“What th’ fuck?! Sweetheart, as much as I would love for ya’ t’ drag me around, I can walk m’self you know.” 

(Y/n) let go of the skeleton and hopped off the top step of the porch, landing on the paved sidewalk below. She turned around and pouted when she saw Red wasn’t on the wooden porch. “Red, where are you? We gotta go!” A poke on her arm signaled his presence on her left. Yelping, she swatted his bony hand away. “I thought I told you not to scare me like that!” (Y/n) angrily said. Red waved the air in front of him. “I teleport, doll. Jus’ get used to it, ya?” 

The human shook her head and began to walk towards the road.

“Uh, (Y/n)? Where are ya’ going?” Red asked in confusion.

(Y/n) threw back her head and replied, “You said we had to go to the monster embassy, right?” The skeleton quirked a bone brow. “You’re gonna walk there?” 

“Yeah? It’s not far, right?”

Red dug his hands in his black shorts. “Monster embassy is on th’ other side of town. It’d take hours to walk there. An’ I don’t think you’d wanna do that in this heat.” He pulled a set of keys from one of his pockets. “We can take my ride.”

(Y/n) looked around. There were no vehicles to be seen and she knew they didn’t have a garage. “Um...what ride?” Red sighed and held out a skeletal hand towards her. “Trust me.” (Y/n) bit her lip and came close to the skeleton. After a moment of hesitation, she took his hand.

“Atta girl.”

In a blink of an eye, they were surrounded by darkness. (Y/n) tried to breathe but found that there was no air in this dark space. Fear overcame her. She squeezed Red's hand frantically, trying to tell him that she needed to breathe. A crimson eyelight floated to look at the girl. The skeleton smiled and tugged her closer to him.

"You're doin' great. Gimme a couple of more seconds. Jus' listen to my voice, (Y/n). The void can be scary for the first time but you're killing it. Everythin's okay," Red spoke softly in her ear.

Lack of oxygen made little pixie-like flashes of red and green dance across her vision. 

She shut her eyes tightly.

Warmth enveloped her body and a cool breeze brushed across her skin. (Y/n) took a shaky gulp of breath. Her lungs relaxed, satisfied with the air that spilled into them. The girl opened her (e/c) eyes to see that they were in some weird parking lot. She turned her head to Red.

The skeleton stood in front of her, his eyelights tracing her body to make sure she was okay. Sweat spilled down his skull and he began to shake. “I-I-I’m so s-sorry, doll. I-I shoulda warned you a-about the effects of th’ v-void b-but I’ve neva’ taken a h-human through it s-so I wouldn’t ‘ave known…” 

(Y/n) grasped his other hand with her own and she gave Red a small smile. “It’s o-okay, Red. I’m okay. There’s no need to apologize. Like you said, you didn’t know. S-so I guess just warn me next time to take a breath before doing that.” Red nodded. 

“So, uh,” the human continued, staring past him at the parking lot they were in, “Where are we?”

“Neighborhood parking lot,” he replied. Red released her hands and stuck his in his pockets. “I dunno why we don’t jus’ have garages in front of our houses, but that’s th’ way the contractors planned it out. I teleported us ‘ere cus I didn’t feel like walkin’.” He patted a beat up red truck next to them and grinned. “This is my ride. Hop in.”

Once (Y/n) was situated in the smaller vehicle, Red pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive towards the highway. (Y/n) set her bag by her feet and leaned into the soft seat. “Hey, Red?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’d you get your truck?”

The monster put his blinker on and turned onto the highway. “It’s not mine, really. I share it with Asgore. I can fit more gardening supplies and plants in here when I take trips to the Underground. When I’m not using it, Asgore uses it for his flower shop.” 

(Y/n) scrunched up her eyebrows, puzzled. “Isn’t Asgore the king of all monsters? Or is he the adoptive father of the ambassadors?” Red laughed. “Both, really. There are three Asgores, technically. King Dreemurr is Sans and Pap’s Asgore. He’s With Queen Riel who ruled over Rus and Blueberry. Then there’s Gory, the Asgore who this truck belongs to; he’s Queen Riel’s ex-husband. He’s the adoptive father of the ambassadors. Gory is now married to Tori who is the ex-wife of King Dreemurr.”

Red gave (Y/n) a side glance. Her mind was spinning. 

“That’s...a lot of drama.”

He snorted. “Ya’ think?”

“So what about the third Asgore?” she asked.

“Eh…” Red tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “King Ass-hole used t’ rule over me an’ Edge. He’s too violent, as is most of our Underground, and now he and his crazy bitch ex are isolated in a mental hospital f’ monsters.”

(Y/n)’s mouth formed a small ‘o’. Pausing, she looked out the front window, gazing at the traffic to gather her thoughts.

“So there are multiple Undergrounds?”

Taking a hand off the wheel, Red scratched his skull. “Uh, yes?”

“But there is one Mount Ebott?”

The skeletal monster switched lanes to get off the highway. He gulped, nervous as to where her questions were going. “Y-yeah?”

“Wouldn’t all the Asgore’s be related?” Red let out a sigh of relief. “No, they’re not related. They may have th’ same names but they’re different people, I assure you. If they were related, then that’d mean all us skeletons would ‘ave to be related. An’ that’s jus’ weird.”

The human nodded and fell silent. The rest of the ride to the monster embassy was uneventful. At one point Red turned on the radio to some soft metal. The monster and human seemed to know a few of the songs that popped up and they sang together. They both felt happiness in their souls.

The monster embassy was a tall, cottage-looking building built into the side of Mount Ebott. It was a light grey-ish/purple color, the light changing its color as the sunlight bounced off the cement block walls. Red parked the truck next to the building and the two beings hopped out. (Y/n) slung her bag on her back and began to walk towards the entrance of the three-story building. 

A large plaque above the doorway greeted them. Engraved upon its face read “ _New-New-New Home”_. Red ruffled the girl’s hair as she read the plaque with an unreadable expression. “King Dreemurr has neva’ been good w’ names,” he explained. 

Taking her hand, Red led the human inside the building. 

***

“Um, Red?”

“Yeah, doll?”

“When you said ‘immense shade and cold water’ this was not what I imagined.”

After ten minutes of paperwork, she didn’t know for what exactly, Red had led (Y/n) out of the backside of the building and on a dirt trail up the mountain. The trees thinned, leaving no shade and only the blaring sun to beat down on them. (Y/n) wiped the build up of sweat on her forehead. “I still don’t know where we’re going. Is there a pool at the top of the mountain or something?”

Red shook his head. A smirk stretched across his skull. “Eh, somethin’ like tha’.”

(Y/n)’s sandals became encrusted in dirt and sweat. Closing her eyes, she kept walking. “Uh, sweetheart? I wouldn’t close yer eyes ‘f I was you,” Red mumbled, brushing up next to the girl.

“Why no-”

Tripping over a large tree root, (Y/n) began to fall. She flinched for impact with the ground but it never came. Opening her (e/c) eyes, she noticed that she had fallen down a hole...and was still falling.

“RED! HELP ME!!” she screamed before her vision blurred into patches of yellow and darkness.

***

_“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a tiny voice squeaked. “Another human that fell into the Underground. Interesting…”_

_The girl sat up in the bed of golden buttercups. Rubbing her head she looked around for the voice._

_“W-who’s there?”_

_“Aw, don’t you remember me, (Y/n)?”_

_She gulped and looked around the dark cavern in front of her. Standing up, she passed through a pair of purple arches to follow the voice. With something in her soul that she couldn’t name, she replied, “If it helps, I don’t remember anything.”_

_Laughter echoed through the cavern, raising the hairs on the human’s arms. She wished she had Red’s jacket._

_A sharp pain filled her head. She kept walking._

_A single light of an unknown source shown on a tiny yellow flower surrounded by a convenient patch of grass. Drawn towards it, the human grew closer._

_“We made a deal, human, so why are you back in the Underground?”_

_The flower had beady black eyes and sharp fangs. A monster?_

_“Still don’t recognize me?” it huffed. “C’mon, (Y/n)! You remember your good old pal and savior, right?”_

_(Y/n) went rigid. “Who are you?”_

_The flower chuckled. “Struck a chord, huh?” Its face morphed into a cartoonish happy face as it said, “I’m Flowey!_ **_Flowey the flower_ ** _!”_

A scream ripped from her voice box as she shut her eyes tightly and rocked back and forth. “Go away, go away, go away…”

A hand rested on her shoulder and she let out another scream.

“Sshhh, sweetheart, it’s me.”

Her eyelids flew open and took in the worried skeleton next to her. His crimson turtleneck sweater was covered in frost. His face held a mix of emotions (Y/n) couldn’t read. HIs hand gripped her shoulder and a shaky sigh escaped his sharp frown.

“I-I thought I lost you. The only way a human can get into th’ Underground is if they fall into the hole there but I had planned on catching you but ya’ disappeared. I searched all over th’ Ruins but you weren’t there so i checked Snowdin and here you were screaming.”

Her eyes widened as she looked past Red at their surroundings. Snow covered the ground and lined dark conifers around them. Looking ahead she noticed a large bridge gate and a shack of some sorts. Her head ached at everything. “How did I get here?”

“I dunno, doll. I was gonna ask you th’ same thing.”

She tried to remember what happened. “I remember buttercups and…”

_“I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!”_

Laughter rang through her head on loop. (Y/n) pulled her hair and whined, “GET OUT!” 

Red picked up the human in his arms and forced her to look at him. “Nothing’s going t’ hurt you, okay? You’re here with me and you are safe, (Y/n).”

Her head silenced and she sighed in relief. It was then she realized she was wearing his coat. She relaxed and melted into the fluff. It reminded her of her own coat and safe space. 

What was she thinking about again?

Red sighed again and began walking. “I meant for this t’ be a nice thing but now it jus’ feels _ruined_.” For some reason, (Y/n) felt like that was a pun. “I dunno what happened t’ ya, but I promise that what I originally had planned is a lot better.” She nodded, holding onto his sweater. “Are you going to carry me the whole way there?”

He shrugged. “I’d carry ya anywhere you wanted if you asked me to,” he replied casually with a small smile. “Jus’ don’t tell the others. I want to keep up my lazy reputation.”

(Y/n) let out a chuckle. 

The soft crunching of Red’s footsteps in the snow rang in the chilly air. They passed through the bridge-gate-thingy and past the shack. As they kept walking, she noticed another shack with a note tacked to it. She squinted to read the scrawly writing while Red walked past it. “Is this Papyrus and Sans’ Underground?”

A dark eyelight drifted towards her. “Yeah, it’s safer here than mine but similar enough t’ know where t’ go.” She nodded and settled against the other’s form. After a while, he nudged her and pointed to a nearby town.

Snowdin, Red explained, was where all the skeletons grew up. It was a friendly, cheerful town in this Underground. As they walked the streets of Snowdin, (Y/n) began to notice the similarities to some houses she had seen in their neighborhood and even Grillby’s first establishment. Like Red said, it was very cheery-looking with the multicolored lights and warm homes but...something was off. She really did not want to be there.

“H-hey, Red?” (Y/n)’s teeth chattered. “I d-don’t think this was what you m-meant when you implied we were g-going swimming. I’d freeze t-t-to death.”

The skeleton laughed, a nervous look bracing his face. “Y-yeah, doll. Where we’re going is a bit warmer and wetter than this.” He paused in his stroll. “I wanted t’ teleport ya, but after last time I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

The girl tugged on his sweater in urgency. “I don’t care, Red. I’m cold. Can we pllleeeaasseee teleport to wherever we’re going?” Sockets narrowed slightly. She could tell that he didn’t believe her. (Y/n) sighed. “Something just feels off right now and I would _like_ to hurry up and go swimming in this promised paradise of yours.”

Somehow, the skeleton’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Ya make me sound like those narcissistic dancing hunks of metal.” At her laugh he continued, “But since you gotta point, Sweetcheeks, I’ll ‘port jus for you.”

They were swallowed up in darkness before being spit out into more darkness.

“Red?”

“I’m here.”

“I can’t see.”

“That’s because I put my hood over ya’ face. Gimme one second before I get everythin’ ready.”

(Y/n) sat patiently.

. . .

. . .

. . .

“...Red?”

“Jus’ one more minute, Sweetheart.”

He sounded strained.

. . .

. . .

. . .

A skeletal hand lightly brushed her own. Blush erupted on (Y/n)’s face. She was glad it was covered. Red coaxed her to sit down on...rocky sand and flowers? Slowly removing the hood from her face, he whispered, “Take a deep breath and listen.”

The girl inhaled moist, earthy air into her lungs, nose relieved at the comforting smell. It reminded her very much of the garden in the backyard. A faint tinkling song of a music box echoed around her, melding with the sounds of moving water. (Y/n) dug her hands into the ground around her. Soft, wet roots covered her hands. Whatever was here was recently planted. A small sigh escaped her lips. Something whispered it back into her ear. Her mind replayed Red’s words when he told her where he took the flowers from. Her breath hitched.

“Are we...in Waterfall?”

_“ Are we...in Waterfall?”_ a hundred tiny voices echoed her.

The hood was lifted fully from her head to reveal the most magical place she had ever seen.

(Y/n) sat in a field of glowing blue echoflowers. Every miniscule sound she made was whispered in the large cavern. The dark rock walls reflected the iridescent crystals that were embedded into them, mimicking the night sky on the surface. The human stood up and walked towards a small river before her. Electric blue water brushed against dark lily pads and cattails along its banks. She felt drawn towards the calming water. 

Red appeared alongside her, hand grazing hers once more. Peeling her eyes from the serene scene, she focused on the skeleton before her. “You did all this...for me?” He shifted his gaze to his dark sneakers and nodded. She squeezed his hand. His eyelights drifted back to her face.

“I’d do anything for you, doll.”

Both figures burned crimson and stared at the water. 

“You promise?” (Y/n) whispered, not looking at his face.

Red hesitated. He hated making promises. But… Looking down he uprooted an echoflower and whispered into its petals with all his intent:

“I promise.”

_“I promise.”_

With the last bit of magic in him, he teleported it into an empty pot in his room at home. (Y/n) silently watched out of the corner of her eye. Not bothering to wipe off the sandy dirt from his hands, he cupped the girl’s cheeks. 

“I know this is fast and sudden and nothin’ you probably thought you were gonna get into when you moved in with us, but I have t’ tell you. (Y/n), I like you. A lot. I can even dare say I love you.” (Y/n)’s face blazed. “But b’fore you say anythin’, Wait a bit. Think about it. I meant everything in my soul when I said that I’d do anything for you. I don’t like making promises, but when I do, I keep that promise to the best of my ability. I…” he trailed off, brushing his smooth thumbs against her soft cheeks. 

“I want ya’ to be happy, (Y/n). You have no idea how happy you’ve made all of us. You deserve all the happiness in the world; so do whatever you need to do to fulfill your dreams.” 

(Y/n)’s eyes began to tear up. 

“Red,” she began, placing her hands over his, “you’re such a sap.” She moved one of his hands from her cheek to her mouth and kissed the cold bone. Crimson eyelights flashed into sharp hearts before returning to their normal round shape. He gulped. She continued, “Thank you. For all of this.” She nodded to the room. “I have an answer for you, but I’ll wait.” 

Her hands dropped from his and she moved to wrap her arms around him. Her embrace was warm and loving. Red closed his sockets and hugged her back. A million yellow lights began to dance around them while the melody of the music box grew louder. The echoflowers sang back the tune of Waterfall and echoed the pounding of the souls of the embracing human and monster.

  
  


***

Flowey scowled at the two beings. “Such filth,” he muttered. His petals bristled as they talked once more before getting into the translucent water. He spat in the stream next to him. The water rippled and out popped a cracked face. The yellow flower twitched in annoyance.

“Why did you have to make it even sappier with the lights? Seeing them hug was already enough to make me sick,” Flowey complained.

Hands floated towards the surface of the water and began signing.

“You know I can’t read that, G.”

The face frowned. Sighing, a textbox floated over the water.

**[Entry Number &%!$]**

**[I have a plan and I’m going to stick to it no matter what.]**

**[No human, monster, nor** **_flower_ ** **will mess it up.]**

**[If they try…]**

The face in the water grew sharp. Black goop swirled around from it, permeating the blue water. Flowey leaned his stem backward in an attempt to put some distance between them.

**[I can always just RESET]**

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a ton of excuses for not uploading sooner but ik you guys dont care so here's the thing.
> 
> And can I just apologize for how roller coaster this chapter is?
> 
> Yeah?
> 
> I'm reeaallyy sorry.
> 
> Next Date is Blueberry so stay tuned:)


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